BBL 2019-20 | Stars vs Renegades - Ask Me Anything ft Aaron Finch’s form and Glenn Maxwell's reverse sweep

ByAakash Sivasubramaniam, SportsCafe Editor

01/04/2020

We got you covered if you could not tune in to watch the Melbourne derby between the Stars and the Renegades. A while ago, I had an AMA session, where there were several questions about the game, which I would be answering here to make life much easier for you guys, as easy as the Stars' victory.

Who won the toss?

The Glenn Maxwell-led Stars won the toss and were confident in their selection to field first to pick wickets upfront. It was a surprise watching Maxwell opt to bowl with the Stars having won only one game chasing, where they huffed and puffed their way beyond the finish line while having won the other four defending their target.

So was Haris Rauf included in the Stars XI?

Unfortunately, to burst your bubble, Rauf missed out from the derby with Sandeep Lamichane taking his place back in the playing XI. With Steyn playing, they could not risk another pacer in a track that had the spinners interested.

Let’s get to the main question, was Dale Steyn truly back?

Steyn was good, great and could have had wickets under his tally if the umpire had given it out in the first over where all of us heard a faint nick. Sadly, no reviews yet in the Big Bash, however, he returned later in the innings to pick up two wickets and bowled the over full of slower ones.

On the other side, is Aaron Finch still sulking at the top of the order?

Sadly for Australia and the Melbourne Renegades, their skipper Aaron Finch is still out of nick and that’s bad news ahead of the World Cup. He got off alright with two sixes before he faced Zampa who got him hitting the wrong length exposing the timber.

Heard Sandeep Lamichhane is back, how impactful was he in the derby?

Very impactful actually, he made the batsmen dance on their feet and in particular the 15th over, where Shaun Marsh and Daniel Christian were bamboozled. First Marsh hit the ball straight to the deep for a duo-work from Ben Dunk and Nathan Coulter-Nile to dismiss him before Christian failed to read the leggie for a quirky stumping. He followed it up with another, ended up picking 3/26 in his spell.

Did the Renegades do a Stars this time around?

Pretty much I would have to say, they collapsed big time after being 115/2 before the 15th over of the innings. Since Marsh and Christian walked off the pitch, the Renegades batting line-up looked like a bunch of tailenders batting towards the end of the innings. A big no-no from the lower order to eventually end the innings at 142/9.

I missed it, how did Stoinis and Maddinson open for the Stars?

Whoever moved Marcus Stoinis to the top-order needs to be given their fair share of the credit, was it David Hussey or Luke Wright, we may never know! Finch opened the bowling with the spinner Tom Cooper, who was whacked by Stoinis alright, 14 runs to be more precise. Three overs full of three boundaries each, the Stars got off the best starts.

How did the Renegades stop their carnage?

Finch, for once, unlike other skippers, did not shy away from giving the third consecutive over to Kane Richardson. Guess what happened? Exactly what you thought, he picked up the crucial wicket of Maddinson putting the brakes of the five-star start from the Stars in the powerplay.

Oh, Maxwell Maxwell, hope he scored in plenty?

Well, Maxwell did score some out-of-the-textbook-shots, none better than the on-the-floor-reverse-sweep against Andrews in the 15th over of the run chase. While Stoinis had toned down a bit from his hitting prowess early in the game, Maxwell took on the mantle and smashed a few to the boundary.

How good were the Stars on derby night?

Stars, you could say, decimated their same-city rivals Renegades with an all-round display both with the bat and the ball. At no point, in the game did the Stars look remotely shadow to the one you saw in the finals last season. Stoinis, Maxwell and Lamichhane, you name it and they raised their hand and performed. The Stars chased the target with eight wickets remaining, criminal from Renegades.

Where was the game turned around?

I guess pretty straight-forward, the over bowled by the Nepalese sensation Lamichhane. He was absolutely fantastic in the game, loved watching every bit of his bowling against the likes of Shaun Marsh and Dan Christian in the first innings. If you are watching him for the first time or the nth time, you will continue to be impressed, such is Lamichhane's bowling.

Any thoughts on this game? How about the learnings?

Again, we learnt that the Stars have come out all guns blazing into this edition of the Big Bash following their crash-athon in the previous edition against the Renegades. Since that defeat, they have left no stone unturned both with the bat and the ball. Marcus Stoinis, slowly yet steadily has taken up the mantle of becoming a stable batter while others dance around the right-hander. Furthermore, I learnt that the Renegades are slowly regretting the start to the tournament, with only 'L' against their name and their last year victory was a rare positive. If the Renegades are to turn this season over, they need their middle order to click and click immediately otherwise too late.

So where do the two teams stand after the game?

Stars sit pretty at the top of the table having won five games out of six played, while their city rivals Renegades sit rock bottom with six petty losses to round the day up. By the ongoing trend, it very well looks like the Stars would continue to top the table until someone steps up their game to dethrone them from the top.