Twitter Reactions: Aaron Finch's unbeaten fifty knocks Brisbane Heat out of BBL

Brisbane Heat took the field against Melbourne Renegades in a must-win game in order to qualify into the playoffs. The fans had an expectation that the star-studded Heat might turn the tables by winning the match but that was not the case. They suffered defeat by a margin of seven wickets. Renegades, who had already been knocked out from the tournament, produced a brilliant performance at their home ground.

Chris Lynn won the toss and elected to bat at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. They got off to a poor start as they lost their in-form opener Sam Heazlett in the 2nd over of the innings. The right-handed batsman tried to slog across the line off Will Sutherland but failed to get his timing due to which he was caught by Aaron Finch at mid-on.

Ben Cutting opened his account in the match with a boundary. He was expected to click a good knock with his willow but he failed. He scored only 27 runs off 11 balls before his inning came to a halt. Chris Lynn and AB de Villiers also flopped with the bat in the crucial game for their side as the former scored only 14 runs whereas the latter muscled 6 runs.

Melbourne Renegades sign off with a win in BBL 2019-20

Later on, Matt Renshaw (65 runs off 47 balls) and Marnus Labuschagne (28 runs off 26 balls) stitched a much-needed partnership of 51 runs for the fifth wicket. It helped Heat in posting a competitive total of 154 runs for a loss of seven wickets in stipulated 20 overs. Will Sutherland turned out to be the best bowler for the hosts as he took three important wickets.

Coming onto the chase, Tom Cooper helped Renegades in getting off to a flying start. He muscled 23 runs off 10 balls with three boundaries and one six. But, he failed to prolong his stay on the wicket, who was dismissed by Ben Cutting in the second over of the innings. Daniel Christian came out to bat at number three as a pinch hitter but he failed to utilise the opportunity and got out after adding just eight runs off Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

It looked like Heat might successfully defend the total but a responsible knock by Aaron Finch (63*runs off 49 balls) and Mohammad Nabi (38*runs off 28 balls) shattered their hopes of winning the game. The duo stitched an unbeaten 87-run partnership that took the match away from Chris Lynn and Co. In the end, Aaron Finch was awarded Man of the Match for scoring a brilliant fifty. Renegades victory also helped Sydney Thunder in qualifying into the BBL 2019-20 playoffs.

Here is how Twitter reacted: