MS vs MR | Harper, Rogers, and Stoinis power Stars to thumping win over Renegades in Melbourne Derby

‌Melbourne Stars brought their Big Bash League campaign back on track after three consecutive losses with a clinical eight-wicket win over Melbourne Renegades on Saturday. Sam Harper and Thomas Rogers played key roles with boundary-filled half-centuries to make light work of the chase as Stars finished on the right side of the Melbourne Derby to rise to second in the points table with 10 points. Meanwhile, Renegades find themselves second from bottom after the crushing defeat, with six points from seven games.

Earlier, the Stars skipper Marcus Stoinis had a great evening with the ball after putting the Renegades in at the Docklands Stadium. The medium pacer picked up key wickets in the middle order before ending with figures of 3/33 in four overs en route to restricting the Renegades to 166/7. Though opener Josh Brown top-scored for the Renegades with a 50-ball 80, which included seven fours and four sixes, he did not receive admirable support from the other end. Incidentally, only Mohammad Rizwan and Hassan Khan had scores in excess of 20, but their strike rates left a lot to be desired. Meanwhile, Haris Rauf also chipped in with two wickets, alongside Stoinis, for the Stars.

The opening pair of Harper and Rogers batted the Renegades out of the contest, adding 84 runs inside eight overs. Rogers was particularly severe with four sixes and four fours during his blistering knock of 53 off just 24 balls. However, Harper continued his run in the middle after Rogers’ dismissal to remain unbeaten at the end of the chase. The wicketkeeper-batter finished as the top scorer in the match with a 51-ball 84, smashing four sixes and eight fours, while also adding 78 runs for the unbroken third wicket with Glenn Maxwell, who finally came good with a knock of 20. The Stars stormed past the Renegades’ total to finish at 170/2 with 25 balls to spare, with Hassan Khan being the only bowler to pick up a wicket, ending with a spell of 1/20 in three overs.