White, Hogg shine as Renegades claim derby

Melbourne Renegades 4 for 171 (White 64*, Cooper 36, Faulkner 1-19) beat Melbourne Stars 9 for 151 (Wright 45, Hogg 3-22) by seven runs (Duckworth-Lewis method)Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

It says plenty about the extent to which the Big Bash League has forced its way to the heart of the Australian summer that a crowd of 71,162 for the Melbourne derby at the MCG might even rank as a disappointment, given the 80,883 that flooded through the gates a year ago, and the 24,547 in the ground for the Women’s BBL curtain-raiser in the afternoon – the highest in the competition’s history.

There was, though, nothing disappointing about the Melbourne Renegades, who bounced back from their loss to the Perth Scorchers with an impressive seven-run win (D/L method) that was not quite as tight as it sounds.

On a slow pitch, Cameron White anchored their innings with a classy 64, then the Renegades spinners, Brad Hogg and Sunil Narine, turned the screws on the Melbourne Stars, who were left with a revised target of 159 after two overs were lost to rain.

The Renegades spring a Narine-shaped surprise There has been some debate as to how the Renegades would replace their key man and only allrounder, Dwayne Bravo, who was ruled out of the tournament after a hamstring injury in the match against the Scorchers. For now, the Renegades don’t have another match until the second Melbourne derby on January 7 and so have plenty of time to find an overseas replacement. As a short-term fix against the Stars, they hauled in the burly bruiser Trent Lawford to provide some lower-order ballast and right-arm …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com