Hobbled 'Gades to up the aggression in derby: Finch

Melbourne Renegades captain Nic Maddinson will be sent for scans tomorrow to determine the severity of a left knee injury suffered while fielding during a five-wicket loss to the Perth Scorchers.

The 31-year-old went down clutching his left knee while fielding a ball on the Marvel Stadium outfield during the second over of the Scorchers chase and appeared to be in serious discomfort as he was carted off on the back of a stretcher.

It was a double blow for the Renegades on New Year's Day with wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb also forced from the field at the end of the 16th over with heat exhaustion as the club sunk to their fourth straight loss of KFC BBL|12 after starting the season with three wins.

Stand-in skipper Aaron Finch – who became just the second player to reach 3000 BBL runs during his 48-ball 65 – said Maddinson was still in a lot of pain after the match.

Although the outfield appeared patchy in parts, cricket.com.au has been told Maddinson said the Marvel Stadium turf wasn't to blame for the injury which occurred as he planted on his left leg while preparing to throw the ball.

"It didn't look very good, he's still in quite a bit of discomfort," Finch said post-match.

"It was pretty innocuous, I think just looking at the replay, it looked like his foot got stuck in the ground and everything twisted, so really unfortunate for him."

It's compounded a horror day for the Renegades opener who was earlier dismissed for a golden duck, which marked his fifth consecutive score under two after starting the tournament with 87 against the Heat in Cairns.

Finch also revealed it was umpires Shawn Craig and Bruce Oxenford that suggested Handscomb should be subbed off as the temperature reached 36C in Melbourne.

"They were worried about him, they felt as though he was stumbling around behind the stumps in that last over so they wanted him to go off," Finch said.

"That was a little bit scary (but) he's OK now, he's had an ice bath and tried to get his body temperature down.

"He's a big sweater as well and finds it hard to retain any fluid.

"It was brutally hot out there today. There was no breeze and it was seriously hot in the middle, especially under the helmet there for eight overs to the spin and (he) batted a bit as well."

The Renegades will now need to find a new opening combination should Maddinson be ruled out for any period of time as they look to find a way to reverse a horror run that has sent them tumbling back to the lower half of the BBL ladder after three seasons on the bottom.

The opening stand in their past six matches has failed to get past three runs, with New Zealand veteran Martin Guptill also struggling to find his best form after replacing Andre Russell after Christmas.

Finch – Australia's T20 opener – looms as one of the contenders to fill the gaps at the top of the order, as does Shaun Marsh who was rested from today's loss to the Scorchers.

Sam Harper, who replaced Handscomb behind the stumps for the final four overs of the match, opened in the Renegades' first four games of BBL|12 before being dropped, and former opener Mackenzie Harvey, who made his first appearance of the season today, are also options.

"It doesn't bother me, I'll go back to the top if required," Finch said.

"If somebody else can do the job and I can stay at four, I'm happy to do that as well.

"I feel really good at No.4, it's been a nice challenge over the last little while after 15 years of opening the batting … it feels like a totally different game to opening the batting."

Finch said the Renegades key to breaking their run of losses – starting with the Melbourne derby against the Stars at the MCG on Tuesday – was to be more aggressive with the bat.

"I think our intent has just been lacking a little bit; we tried to have a little bit more intent today," he said.

"It's one thing if you're losing wickets while you're being aggressive and still scoring but we've been stuck in the middle, we've been losing wickets while standing still as well.

"Every time we start to get a partnership, we've just been losing a wicket which is disappointing."