GIVE US A BASH
THE COLOUR, THE ACTION, THE PUSH FOR OUR OWN FRANCHISE
VICTORIOUS Melbourne Renegades skipper Aaron Finch concedes his side will be “en garde” in Saturday’s night’s Big Bash League derby after ending Sydney Sixers’ season in Geelong last night.
Collecting a valuable eightwicket win over a lacklustre Sixers side, Finch admitted the Renegades would quickly turn their attention to the struggling Melbourne Stars at the MCG.
But the Gades won’t relax against their cross-town rivals.
“You don’t take any side lightly,” Finch said post match.
“You do your planning and preparation for every side, just as diligently as you do for another. We definitely won’t be taking them lightly. As long as we keep playing really good cricket, we’ll let the results take care of themselves.”
Reducing the Sixers to a season-ending fifth straight loss, the Renegades can end the Stars’ season with another win. But Finch refused to look too far ahead.
“It would be nice to start off the game the same way,” Finch said. “That was our only real focus going into this game, regardless of whether we batted or bowled first, make sure the first six overs were as good as it could be and tonight was outstanding.
“We really set the tone for that innings. The Stars have still got a quality side and they’ve got some real firepower there. They haven’t played their best cricket, but they’re due. I expect it will be a great contest and they always have been over the years.”
The ‘ Gades suffocated the Sixers in the opening overs, eventually holding the visitors to 8-111 before reaching the total in the 16th over, making 2-112.
“It was a great win, the way we started in the first six (overs) with the ball, restricting them early, taking wickets, it
was the key to setting up the innings,” Finch said. “The way we kept going through the middle overs with relentless pressure was outstanding.”
Breaking his run of outs en route to a half-century — his first of BBL07 — Finch admitted the sprayed pull shot over wicketkeeper Peter Nevill’s head early in his knock gave him a much needed shot of confidence.
“It was the break that you need at the top of a T20 innings,” Finch said. “You really take a deep breath when you’re going to take your first risk — and sometimes you know when you’re going to take it and other times you don’t — tonight I knew I was going to take that ball on and I got away with it.
“Once that happens, you relax and your innings flows. It was nice to contribute, albeit it in a small run chase.”
Sixers captain Johan Botha lamented another poor performance.
“We struggled with the bat, we were up against a highquality team, a really good bowling unit, and they never let us get away,” Botha said.
He ranked the Renegades, now 3-1, one of the teams to beat. “I said a week or so ago that them (Renegades) and the Scorchers were the two best teams in the comp, overall,” Botha said. “Losing the captain, Finchy, is quite a big loss. He’s just come into form and that’s good for Australia. I still think they’ve one of the better teams, if not the best team.”