Renegades target early strike tonight
SYDNEY Sixers opening batsman Jason Roy will be the key wicket for the Melbourne Renegades tonight, according to keeper Tim Ludeman.
The English import has hit six, 21, 19 and two in his four matches, showing glimpses of his destructive best, only to fall after making a start.
With the Sixers still winless this competition, Ludeman said Roy was the player the Renegades would be desperate to remove.
“Obviously they’re a very dangerous side, they’ve got class players in their line-up,” he told the Geelong Advertiser.
“I think Roy is a key to them up the top, to get away in the powerplay sets up a good foundation to go big.
“Roy is a very dangerous player, so if we can get him early, hopefully that can get us on a bit of a role.”
Kardinia Park shapes as a new frontier for the Renegades, few of whom — if any — have played cricket at the venue. It hosted an international Twenty20 last year between Australia and Sri Lanka, and a BBL warm-up match two summers ago.
“I haven’t played there before, I’m sure many others haven’t played there before,” said Ludeman, a Warrnambool product playing for Geelong this season.
“I think we’ll have to learn on the job a little bit, but we’ll get a good look at it at training and we’ve obviously got wise heads with (Cameron) White and (Brad) Hodge in the team and those guys adapt quicker than others because of their wealth of experience.”
The Renegades are coming off their first loss of the season, outmatched by ladder leader Perth Scorchers last Friday.
“To have a loss there was disappointing but Perth have been the benchmark of the competition for the last four or five seasons, so you take a lot of lessons out of that and how they go about it,” Ludeman said.
But a win tonight can set the Renegades up for a crack at a top-two finish.
“Big Bash is such a fastpaced tournament that you want to keep winning and keep the momentum rolling, so hopefully we can get another win and keep it rolling,” he said.