BBL 2016-17: Top 5 moments from Matchday 11

Day-11 of the BBL came to an end with the Melbourne Renegades climbing to third place in the standings with a 7-run win over the Melbourne Stars while reigning champs Sydney Thunder slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat of the competition by losing to the Perth Scorchers by 50 runs. As a result of the win, the Perth Scorchers are now at the top of the table.

Brief Scores: Melbourne Renegades- 171/4 in 20 overs (Cameron White- 64*, James Faulkner- 19/1); Melbourne Stars- 151/9 in 18 overs (Luke Wright- 45, Brad Hogg- 22/3)Result: Melbourne Renegades win by seven runs (D/L Method)

Brief Scores: Perth Scorchers- 177/4 in 20 overs (Ian Bell- 45, Mitchell Marsh- 44*, David Willey- 21/2)Results: Perth Scorchers win by 50 runs

#5 Sunil Narine’s unique promotion

Narine scored a 13-ball 21 on his debut as a T20 opener

West Indies star Sunil Narine is considered to be one of the world’s finest spinners in the limited-overs game and he has been the opening bowler of his respective teams on certain occasions. However, in today’s match, Narine opened the Melbourne Renegades’ batting alongside skipper Aaron Finch to everyone’s awe.

Finch’s move did not backfire as Narine went on to score a 13-ball 21 in which he completely dominated Shaun Boland in the fourth over when he hit him for a boundary over his head which was followed by a cracking six over backward square. However, he was dismissed in the very next delivery with comeback man Kevin Pietersen taking a brilliant catch.

#4 Pietersen announces his arrival in the BBL in style

Kevin Pietersen’s brilliant catch to dismiss Sunil Narine is definitely the catch of the tournament so far

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen played his first match of this season’s BBL and it did not take him long to make an impact. Melbourne Renegades’ skipper Aaron Finch’s decision of sending Sunil Narine to open the innings was paying off as Narine had hit Shaun Boland for a boundary and a six during the fourth over.

However, in the fourth delivery of the fourth over, Pietersen took a brilliant catch to dismiss Narine. Narine had lofted a backfoot drive high in the air and the 36-year old Pietersen came running from mid-off to take a wonderful catch.

Pietersen began well with the bat as well, hitting a few early boundaries before being dismissed by Cameron Stevenson for 15 off 8 balls. The Melbourne Stars may have won the match but there’s no denying that Pietersen’s catch is the catch of the tournament so far.

#3 Chris Tremain’s 11-ball over

Chris Tremain’s final over of the match lasted nine minutes and a total of eleven balls were bowled

Chris Tremain may have conceded only eight runs in his final over but only three of those runs came off the bat; the other five were all extras. This is how his final over went: wide, no-ball, free-hit dot, wide, wide, wicket, one run, one run, wide, dot, one run. He began the over bowling over the wicket and bowled five deliveries with only one of them being counted.

He then began to bowl around the wicket and dismissed James Faulkner the very next delivery. He did bowl a wide later on but he managed to end the over, having bowled 11 balls. Tremain’s over lasted a total of nine minutes.

#2 Ashton Turner’s importance down the order

Turner has established himself as a very useful middle-order batsman for the Perth Scorchers

In Perth Scorchers’ opening match of the BBL, Ashton Turner played a brilliant cameo of 44 from just 19 deliveries to propel them to a total of 197. Turner did the same thing today although this cameo did not last as long as the previous one but it turned out to be very beneficial for the Perth Scorchers.

Turner came in to bat at the end of the 15^th over when skipper Adam Voges left the field after getting himself injured while attempting a slog sweep. In only his second ball, Turner hit Andre Russell for a six over fine leg. This was followed by a total butchery of Clint McKay in the 18^th over when Turner hit a four and a six. He was dismissed in the penultimate over by Pat Cummins, having scored 20 off just 11 deliveries.

Ashton Turner’s has been capable of scoring quickly in the death overs and provided he maintains his consistency and aggression, he could well be a decisive player for the Perth Scorchers.

#1 Mitchell Marsh’s all-round show seals the win for the Perth Scorchers

Marsh was adjudged the Man of the Match for his all-round performance

Mitchell Marsh had a brilliant match both with bat and ball. Marsh came in to bat at number four when Michael Klinger was dismissed for 36 by Shane Watson, thus ending an 85-run partnership between Ian Bell and himself. Soon after Marsh joined Bell, the latter was dismissed and Adam Voges was retired hurt.

At this point, Ashton Turner joined Marsh at the crease and the duo got some very quick runs towards the twilight of the innings before Turner was dismissed. However, Marsh added the finishing touch really well by hitting a couple of sixes to help the Perth Scorchers to a score of 177/4. Marsh ended with 44 off just 27 balls as his run tally went up to 140 which is the fourth highest of this season so far. With the ball, Marsh conceded 25 runs in his three overs, picking up the wicket of Jay Lenton.

Marsh was eventually adjudged the Man of the Match for his performances and provided he maintains his consistency, he could be a very handy player for the Perth Scorchers.