The Thunder put the highest overall team of BBL 10 while the Renegades were all out for an under-100 score for the second time in three games
Thunder Sydney 8 for 209 (Davies 48, Richardson 2-33) beat Melbourne Renegades 80 all out (T Sangha 4-14) with 129 runs
Emerging talent Oliver Davies fell out five in a row when Thunder Sydney declared themselves as title contenders in a rhythm of 129 runs over the struggling Melbourne Renegades in Canberra .
It was the second biggest loss in BBL history, coming just weeks after the Renegades set the record for the biggest defeat against the Sydney Sixers.
Davies scored 48 off 23 balls while the Thunder accumulated 8 for 209 without a single player getting half a century. Usman Khawaja and Alex Hales provided Davies with a unique platform with a 70-run opening partnership off just 35 balls. Daniel Sams and Nathan McAndrew delivered devastating cameos to help the Thunder post the highest BBL score this season. The Renegades were lucky not to run more with Kane Richardson taking 2 for 33 with a few clever death bowls.
The Renegades did not fire a bullet in the chase. McAndrew and Adam Milne did the damage early before Tanveer tore Sangha through the middle order giving 4 best for a position in just his fourth BBL game. Chris Green also gave up 2 for 7 as the Renegades were sent off for 80 with 7.4 overs remaining.
The first four fireworks
The bowlers have taken a big grip on the opening game during the BBL so far due to a combination of factors. Battery crews had scratched more than 35 runs in the first four pitches just three times in the competition so far with the Thunder doing it twice. Khawaja and Hales raised the bar again against Renegades spoiling a new best of 49 unbeaten rivals. Aaron Finch made a gamble with two shots of spinning and called Khawaja and Hales. The former broke four boundaries off Peter Hatzoglou before Hales beat his Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim for 10 in two balls. Finch held his guns and finally got both through a spin in a continuous goal to stop the Thunder’s movement, but the 70-run stand in 5.5 overs set the game for the Thunder.
Oliver Davies, remember the name
Davies had already turned heads with his debating machines against the Scorchers. But it turned out he had another gear against the Renegades. The loss of Khawaja and Hales forced Davies and Callum Ferguson to start together and meant the pair achieved one finish in four petals. But Davies’ slow start didn’t bother him. And Mohammad Nabi’s experience was no more. Davies launched Nabi for four sixes in a row. Three went over the side of the leg and one over the cover. He wasn’t finished there, hitting the next ball he faced from Will Sutherland over the square foot to make it five in five balls. He gave Davies a special yorker to transfer but the damage was done. Davies from 48 balls made sure the Thunder posted 200-plus. Maybe they should have done more. The Davies hotel was completed before the Power Surge was taken. Sams and McAndrew played excellent cameos but Ferguson struggled to find the rope in his 31-run run. He fell into the dive of an excellent running dive on the rope from Sutherland. The dangerous Ben Cutting was also run out for a diamond duck. Richardson completed a team hat-trick in 19th place for the Renegades taking two wickets and finishing a run just after him to peg back at the Thunder and give his bats a chance.
Renegades land again
The Renegades wrote their disastrous night against the Sydney Sixers as once but a second fall against the Thunder should be a cause for alarm. Shaun Marsh made fifty years in the first game of the season at Renegades against Scorchers but his struggles have since been on par with his team. He got just 3 off 7 before sending McAndrew to the top trying to find the rope with a pull bullet. It was his third straight innings with a strike rate of less than 77 with a high score of just 13. He started to rot for the Renegades as the Thunder stopped them with a superb bowling. The pace of McAndrew and Milne accounted for Marsh and Sam Harper. The spin duo Sangha and Green then pushed them deeper into the hole. Finch looked rusty after a bit of rest, pulling a long hop to cover it. Sangha then added to his record with Beau Webster and Nabi providing simple opportunities. Sangha and Green took six wikis as the Thunder kept all the simple catches offered to them. The Renegades did not even reach the 14th over as the Thunder moved to first place on the points table.
Alex Malcolm is a Melbourne-based freelance writer