Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Sport
Shayne Hope

Stars openers take derby revenge on Renegades

Tom Rogers brought up his half-century off just 19 balls to help guide the Stars to victory. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Tom Rogers has smashed the equal second-fastest half-century in Stars history as his team reignited their push for a maiden BBL title with a commanding eight-wicket Melbourne derby win over the Renegades.

In-form Renegades blaster Josh Brown laid the platform for the hosts' 7-166 at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night with 80 off 50 balls.

But Rogers and fellow opener Sam Harper both fired to help the Stars reach 2-170 with 25 deliveries to spare.

Josh Brown.
Josh Brown scored a quickfire 80 for the Renegades but it wasn't enough for victory over the Stars. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

In doing so, the Stars turned the tables on their rivals after losing the first derby of the season six days earlier.

Rogers set the pace in the run chase, bringing up his half-century off 19 balls before he was run out for 53 off 24, smashing four fours and four sixes.

His quickfire fifty wasn't far off Nicholas Pooran's Stars record (17 balls), but it didn't go close to threatening the all-time BBL mark, set by the Renegades' Chris Gayle (12 balls) in 2016.

Harper stuck around longer than his opening partner, posting an unbeaten 84 off 51 to continue his best BBL campaign so far with the bat.

The diminutive wicketkeeper-batter produced the highlight of the night when he smacked Jason Behrendorff into the top deck of the stands.

It was one of Harper's four sixes, while he also hit eight fours and reclaimed his spot on top of the competition's run-scoring list this season.

He has 356 runs at an average of 89.00 and strike rate of 158.92.

"I feel like I'm batting nicely," Harper said.

"I'm keeping both sides of the ground in play, trying to stand pretty still and I've got strengths both sides of the wicket, so I'm just hoping they miss in my areas."

Sam Harper continued his sizzling form for the Stars.
Sam Harper continued his sizzling form for the Stars, blasting his way to 84 not out. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

After losing their previous three outings, the Stars (5-3) are back on track for a finals appearance, while the Renegades (3-4) sit among the tight pack fighting for a spot.

"It's nice to get back on the winners' board," Harper said.

"T20's a game of fickle margins. I don't feel like we had too much of a point to prove ... I felt like we were playing good cricket."

Brown continued his strong form by posting back-to-back derby half-centuries, after his player-of-the-match performance in the previous clash.

The powerful right-hander hit seven fours and four sixes, taking his season tally of maximums to a league-best 17, including launching Mitchell Swepson into the second tier of seats.

Jake Fraser-McGurk (17 off 14) became the latest player to hit the Docklands roof, resulting in a dead ball, while Mohammad Rizwan's stay at the crease was an eventful one.

The Pakistani batter was hit in the box by Peter Siddle and dropped by Glenn Maxwell on the boundary, but failed to make the Stars pay.

Rizwan (21 off 20) and Caleb Jewell fell in successive balls to Marcus Stoinis, who was denied a hat-trick by Hassan Khan.

Stoinis took 3-33 from four overs as the pick of the Stars' attack, with support from Haris Rauf (2-31).

Teams chasing targets have now won 11 of the past 12 matches at Marvel Stadium.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.