Perfect Scorchers down disappointing Renegades

Another disappointing batting performance from the Melbourne Renegades and a dominant partnership from Mitch Marsh and Colin Munro has kept the Perth Scorchers perfect KFC BBL|11 record intact.

Set a modest 152 for victory, player of the match Marsh and Munro cantered home with 19 balls to spare as the Scorchers won by eight wickets at Marvel Stadium on Boxing Day.

Ultimately, despite another promising start, the Renegades batting again suffered a familiar fate that it has all season.

With senior batters Aaron Finch (8) and skipper Nic Maddinson (3) falling cheaply, the daunting responsibility of putting up a competitive total against an imposing Scorchers unit fell to their young batting line-up.

There were promising signs, as there always seems to be, but again the wickets fell in clumps – from 1-68 to 4-83 and 4-99 to 7-105 – as they just couldn't stop the wickets tumbling once the Scorchers seized the momentum.

Harper looked good for his 33 off 25 balls – his third score in the 30s for tournament without a half century – before he picked out Cameron Bancroft in the deep off Ashton Agar.

Jake Fraser-McGurk hit a towering six over square leg second ball but fell on the fourth one he faced attempting to launch another that he just seemed to try and force too much.

Mackenzie Harvey again looked flawless on his way to 45 off 40 balls but a lapse in concentration cost him his wicket when he started jogging halfway through a quick single with the subsequent direct hit from Laurie Evans catching him short of his ground.

When allrounder Will Sutherland chipped a simple chance to mid-off – the fourth single figure score of the Renegades middle-order – they had slumped to 7-105 and all hope of a sizeable total seemed to have faded.

Jack Prestwidge (22no off 11 balls) and James Pattinson (16 off eight) restored some respectability to the scoreboard as they took 44 runs from the last three overs of the innings, but realistically their 8-151 from their 20 overs was never going to be enough to contain Marsh.

The most in-form T20 batter in the world never looked troubled – even when he was struck in the head by a Sutherland bouncer – in his 42 not out from 33 balls.

The Renegades attack, which was missing the BBL's third highest wicket-taker of all time in Kane Richardson through a non-COVID related illness, struggled to get regular breakthroughs as Marsh and Munro piled on the pain with an unbeaten 99-run third-wicket partnership.

The Kiwi left-hander was the aggressor late in the innings as he struck 24 runs from his last seven balls to finish the match in a hurry as the clock ticked over midnight in Melbourne in the second match of a double header.

He finished unbeaten on 58 from 32 balls in a knock that included six fours and two sixes as the 34-year-old took his runs tally to 204 for the tournament.

Openers Cameron Bancroft (23) and Josh Inglis (23) also chipped in with handy contributions as the Scorchers cemented their spot at the top of the BBL|11 table.

Earlier, Jason Behrendorff was the pick of the Scorchers bowlers with a superb 2-19 from four overs, while Agar (2-38) and Tymal Mills (2-36) both claimed two scalps.

Maddinson claimed his first wicket for the Renegades with his part-time finger spinners trapping Bancroft in front.

On another sour note for the Renegades, Australia's T20 World Cup winning captain Finch appeared uncomfortable in the field as he was spotted limping on his troublesome knee, which caused him to miss the first three games of the tournament.

The Scorchers next face the Sydney Thunder in Canberra in two days' time, while the Renegades face the Hobart Hurricanes at Marvel Stadium again on December 29.