Melbourne Renegades have given Aaron Finch a winning send-off, though he was dismissed for a duck in their six-wicket win
Aaron Finch has enjoyed a winning farewell despite a third-ball duck, as his Melbourne Renegades side dealt a massive blow to the BBL finals hopes of local rivals Melbourne Stars.
Marvel Stadium witnessed an anti-climatic finale with the bat on Saturday from former Australian captain Finch, who came charging down the pitch and skied an easy catch to his old mate Glenn Maxwell at mid-off.
Maxwell didn’t celebrate as Finch walked off to great acclaim, raising his bat to acknowledge the 41,205 crowd.
Finch, the Renegades all-time leading scorer, had his team jersey number (5) retired before the game.
And the Gades at least gave him the proper send-off. Chasing the Stars’ 8-137 on a tricky wicket offering assistance to spinners and quicks, they achieved their target with six wickets and 16 balls to spare.
They stumbled in the Power Surge but veteran Shaun Marsh (64 not out off 49 balls) and Jonathan Wells (14 not out off 15) steered them to victory with a 46-run stand to lift the Renegades off the bottom of the table.
The loss left the fifth-placed Stars a point behind Adelaide Strikers, who will wrap up fourth spot if they beat the Thunder in Canberra on Sunday.
Marsh and young hot shot Jake Fraser-McGurk (42 off 31) played and missed a number of times, as the Stars seamers exploited the favourable conditions, but added 68.
The Renegades looked in control at the halfway stage at 1-74 after taking 16 runs off the 10th over.
But they lost three wickets in the Power Surge, which they took immediately after the mid-innings break.
Four Stars passed 20, but Hilton Cartwright (38 off 30 balls) was the only one to pass 30.
Finch’s old housemate, Victorian and Australian colleague, Maxwell, briefly threatened to be a party pooper as he blasted his way to 20 off 10 balls.
He blasted 16 off three successive balls in Tom Rogers second over, but was out the next over.
Quicks Tom Rogers and Richardson (2-17 off four overs) each picked up a wicket with their first delivery, after Renegades raced to 0-21 off the first two overs.
West Indian spinner Akeal Hosein (2-18 off four) playing in the first of just two BBL games for the Renegades, extracted significant turn from a receptive pitch.
