Twitter Reactions: Stars beat Renegades in a Melbourne derby

The 19th match of the Big Bash League (BBL) season 6 was a Melbourne derby clash between the Stars and the Renegades. Aaron Finch the Melbourne Renegades skipper won the toss and decided to ask the hosts to bat first at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne. Australian pacer James Pattinson who has been struggling with injuries appeared in his first BBL game of the season and had an immediate impact.

In his very first and only the second over of the match, he sent back Stars opener Luke Wright for just 6 runs. Then there was a phase where the Stars had things in their control. They scored brisk runs and didn’t lose any wickets. The second opener Rob Quiney was going pretty well but just after crossing the fifty-run mark fell to Trent Lawford. It was Kevin Pietersen at the other end and the 36-year-old batted with a lot of fire.

He has once again shown that KP isn’t done yet and he has that hunger and a lot of cricket left in him. He scored 73 off 46 deliveries before eventually getting out on a Sunil Narine delivery. Glenn Maxwell who so desperately needs to perform and impress the Aussie selectors to book himself a ticket to India could only add 24 to the team total; he was Pattinson’s second scalp of the night.

The pacer plucked another wicket on the night and finished his 4-over spell with 3 wickets against 44 runs. Stars posted an exact 200 runs and Renegades once again started the innings with the unusual pair of skipper Finch and pinch hitter Sunil Narine. They didn’t have a particularly good start as Narine was sent on his way back by Scott Boland for 12. Finch scored 27 from 13 but was Boland’s second success.

Then Adam Zampa got into the act and ran through the Renegades middle order. He claimed three straight wickets and the chase was completely off track. With the asking rate mounting and the wickets tumbling the visitors struggled against their Melbourne brothers. Michael Beer also joined the party and got bagged three to shatter any hopes of a comeback. Ben Hilfenhaus got the lone wicket of Pattinson and the Renegades innings ended on 154/9 in 20 overs and they conceded the game by 46 runs.

Here is how Twitterati reacted during the game: