"Live" Halftime Recap - Renegades v Stars @ Docklands Stadium

Melbourne Renegades v Melbourne Stars 7/200 (20 Overs) @ Docklands

Stars A Far More Better Balanced Side With Quiney Back

Robert Quiney was once again the Stars' lynchpin on his return to the side with a classy 51 from only 30 balls. The Stars' batting has been underwhelming in their past two games, however they look a lot stronger with Quiney back at the top of the order. Quiney has a poor T20 record overall , averaging just 17 with a strike rate of 117 from over 70 games. However, he has often been deployed in the middle order and he has been far more productive back in his favoured opening role in BBL6. Quiney loves pace on the ball and is a particularly strong player off his pads. He played a number of effortless pick up shots, flicks and sweeps over the leg side to get the Stars off to a great start of 1/58 from the batting Power Play. The Renegades' seamers were guilty of bowling far too straight to Quiney and paid the penalty with a number of leg side boundries. The unlikely Trent Lawford picked up Quiney with a shorter off speed ball that he was far too early on and spooned to deep square leg. While Quiney would have liked to cash in even more, his return allowed the Stars to be far more formidable in the middles overs - which is where they have struggled the past two games. With Glenn Maxwell coming in at Number 4, and David Hussey deep in an innings there was no let up for the Renegades  as there was a week ago at the MCG.

Fascinating Contest Between Hogg, Pietersen and Maxwell

Kevin Pietersen and Glenn Maxwell are two of the most cavalier players in the world, having forged their reputation by playing mercurial and jaw dropping shots. However, when given the pleasure of listening to the two batting tyros, it's a great insight for the viewer of how two of the most intensive and fearless batsmen in the world are thinking. It's far from just slogging and hoping for the best. Both Pietersen and Maxwell were not going to allow the Renegades' danger man Brad Hogg to settle, and immediately started sweeping and reverse sweeping the veteran left arm wrist spinner. Whilst they had their fair share of luck with a few miscues and inside edges, it showcased the self-belief they have in themselves and their ability to change the dynamic of the game. Hogg was unlucky at times, but ended up with his most expensive figure of BBL 6 with 0/33 from his 4 overs. Most teams are content to sit on Hogg and let him bowl his 4 overs at 5 or 6 per over, however Pietersen and Maxwell knew if they could take Hogg down early it upsets all of the Renegades' bowling plans and changes the tempo of the game. At times you got the feeling it was almost a battle within themselves, between Pietersen and Maxwell, to see who could come up with the more inventive shot. Whatever the case, it's box office television listening to the two mic'd up talking through their batting plans and thought patterns.

Pattinson Impresses On Return To The Big Stage

I thought Pattinson might have been a little rusty and conservative on debut, however he really exuded good aggressive body language and gave his side a presence and a genuine strike bowler right from the get go. Whilst David Hussey made mince meat of Pattinson in his final over as he got a bit predictable and tried, Pattinson really impressed in his opening 3 overs. Pattinson has been the forgotten man of Australia's pace bowling cartel in the past couple of seasons. With 70 Test wickets from 17 Tests at an average of 26, Pattinson was set to be the face of the Aussie pace bowling assault for the next five years, however injuries have halted his progress. Despite playing his last Test in February 2016, Pattinson has had a stop/start few years. However, it was great to see there was no settling in period on his return. Pattinson cranked up the pace straight into the mid-140s was by far the Renegades best bowler on his returns. He picked up the key wickets of Luke Wright, Glenn Maxwell to at least halt some of the Stars' momentum and will be much better for the run. 

Renegades Pay The Price For Steering Away From Tactic

In their previous three games the Renegades had used Tom Cooper for just the one over to start the match to good effect. Cooper has been a bit of a surprise weapon with his very round arm, round the wicket sliders, cramping the batman for room. Cooper is also good at rushing through his overs, trying to minimise the batsman's thinking time. However, the Renegades maybe got a bit greedy here and decided after his initial over went for 7 that they would give Cooper a second straight over. They paid the price, as Cooper was taken for 19 by Kevin Pietersen and Robert Quiney who had each had a few balls to eye him up. Given Quiney had a moderate strike rate in BBL cricket against the off spinner, there was method to the Renegades madness. However, I think they might go back to their original plan with Cooper in their next game. 

Lurker Poised To Pounce

The Lurker loves his Melbourne Stars and despite them dropping him to two costly defeats so far in BBL6, he stuck solid tonight. The Lurker is a massive KP fan and he did the job for him comfortably scoring the 25+ The Lurker predicted. All we need now is for the Stars to win, and by a margin of 1-20 runs, and The Lurker would have landed another massive treble.