Twitter Reactions: Thunder fall agonisingly short of the target against the wily Renegades

The Melbourne Renegades defended a below-par total of 152 runs in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) against the Sydney Thunder at the Showground stadium. It was quite a professional effort from Aaron Finch and his boys as they never let the opposition batsmen off the hook. Despite Callum Ferguson and Jason Sangha smashing half-centuries in the chase, the Thunder fell short of the target by 12 runs.

The start was not at all good for the home side as they lost both the openers Anton Devcich and the skipper, Shane Watson, very quickly. They could collectively add one run off eight balls after which Ferguson and Sangha joined hands to rebuild the innings. The duo did well to stall the fall of wickets but upping the ante was an issue for them especially after the powerplay.

With long square boundaries, the fours and sixes weren’t coming at will and moreover, the Renegades’ bowlers were exceptional on the day. Harry Gurney and Kane Richardson were brilliant in their execution and more importantly, their fielders supported them to make it tough for the Thunder. The likes of Daniel Sams and Chris Green also couldn’t hit boundaries in the death overs even as Sangha tried his best until the last over.

They could only notch up 11 fours and a solitary six during the whole of 20 overs and reached only 140 runs for the loss of five wickets. Gurney was the best bowler for the Renegades as he returned with the figures of 2/27 in his four overs.

Finch and White propel the Renegades

Earlier, after opting to bowl first, the Thunder had got off to a great start. The surprise opener Cameron Boyce bagged a second-ball duck even as Sam Harper was castled. Tom Cooper also played a slow knock of 22 runs but Finch and Cameron White didn’t deter.

They added 65 runs for the fourth wicket stand in just 41 balls and kept the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs. Despite a collapse in the final few overs and the lack of final flourish to the innings, the visitors managed to cross the 150-run mark which proved to be enough in the end.

Sams and Gurinder Sandhu shared six wickets between them after conceding only 52 runs in eight overs combined. But their efforts went in vain completely as the Thunder’s batsmen couldn’t chase down the middling total.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the game:

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