Renegades suffer familiar fate

By Robert Bremner

Melbourne Renegades have finished the 2015 season in a disappointing sixth position and missed out on the finals for a second consecutive year.

The final was eventually played out between the Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers with the Scorchers winning by four wickets.

In one of the most exciting finishes of the season, Brett Lee almost stole the win in his final match. He took two wickets in the final over but on the final ball the Scorchers snatched the victory taking out back-to-back titles.

The match was played in Canberra, much to the disappointment of the Scorchers which, as the highest-ranked team, believed the match should have been played in Western Australia. The Scorchers were playing in their fourth consecutive Big Bash League final – the best of any side in the league.

The Renegades’ season was filled with plenty of promise with Aaron Finch leading at the front along with Dwayne Bravo.

Unfortunately, the batting was down on expectations with Wade top scoring with 168 runs for the season. The Renegades only managed to score one total above 160 and were one of only two sides to never reach a total of 180.

They also had only two players reach half centuries, the lowest total of any clubs this season. Captain Aaron Finch also had a disappointing season having a batting average of less than 25.

Coach Simon Helmot was disappointed with the performances of his batters this season.

“I’m staggered at our disappointing batting results. I didn’t predict we would be boasting only two fifties for the whole tournament, and only post a score over 160 once,” Helmot said.

Arguably, their worst batting performance was against the Stars. The Renegades were bowled out for a measly 57, with the team only lasting 12.4 overs. Tom Cooper top scored with only 10 runs.

The boys in red finished with only three wins for the season, the same result as 2014.

The one shining light this season for the Renegades was the bowling attack. The bowlers helped the Renegades to a number of their wins, including keeping the Brisbane Heat to a low total of 80.

They also sent out five Heat batsman for a duck. The boys also had fantastic numbers for this match with Ahmed being 1-7 after his four overs and Shakib 4-13. Shakib and Patterson both lead the way in terms of overall wickets, with seven each for the season.

The season didn’t end too much better for the other Victorian side with Melbourne Stars falling at the semi finals for the third consecutive year.