BBL 2020-21: Who won the clash between the Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne Renegades

The Perth Scorchers clashed with the Melbourne Renegades at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart in their first encounter of the 2020-21 BBL season. The Melbourne-based outfit secured a comfortable win by 7 wickets as they chased the Perth Scorchers' total of 130 runs in 16.3 overs.

How did the Perth Scorchers fare in their first innings in this year's BBL?

Captain Ashton Turner won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the Scorchers got off to a poor start in their first BBL 2020-21 encounter as T20 specialist Colin Munro was cleaned up in the opening over by Josh Lalor.

Their shaky start went from bad to worse as they lost two more wickets inside the first four overs. The home side never really got going, and most of their batsman looked scratchy in the middle.

Aaron Hardie was the top scorer for the team with 33 runs, but it took him 36 deliveries to score the same. Experienced international Mitchell Marsh failed with the bat as he only managed an uninspiring 17 off 18 balls.

On the other hand, Aaron Finch did a fine job in shuffling the bowlers in the Renegades lineup and his troops were also sharp in the field.

Don't take on Sammy Harper's arm! Absolutely brilliant from the Renegades' keeper! @BKTtires | #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/Owlu1EwC42

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 12, 2020

The Renegades' two premium fast bowlers, Josh Lalor and Kane Richardson, picked three wickets each. Debutants Peter Hatzoglou and Benny Howell also bowled tidy spells in the middle, and the Scorchers failed to accelerate their scoring. The Melbourne Renegades bowled out the Scorchers for 130 runs in 19.1 overs in their first BBL fixture of the season.

BBL - Renegades v Scorchers

An easy chase for Finch and his team in their first game of the BBL season

While defending a small total, early wickets are always necessary. However, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh showed their class at the top for the Renegades. They never really gave the Scorchers' bowlers a chance and set up a 70 runs opening stand.

The opening pair also secured the bonus point in the BBL by being ahead of the Scorchers' score at the halfway stage. Finch was undone by a slower delivery from Jhye Richardson. However, the player had already done his job as he had scored 35 off 28 deliveries.

Marsh continued for a while and got his first half-century of the new BBL season. The Scorchers picked up two more wickets in the end, but they were never really in the game in the second innings.

In the end, the Scorchers were outplayed comfortably by the Melbourne Renegades. Ashton Turner and his men will have to pick themselves up when they face the Melbourne Stars in their second game of the BBL 2020-21 season.