Stars earn season lifeline as returning Test stars lift the Heat

The Melbourne Stars have gained revenge on their cross-town rivals, defeating the Renegades by eight wickets overnight to keep their season alive.

After succumbing to a three game losing streaks, immediately after winning their first four games of the season, the Stars were desperate to get back to winning ways, with their bowling attack demonstrating this in the first inning.

Multiple wickets from captain Marcus Stoinis (3/33) and Harris Rauf (2/31), kept the Renegades under the pump through out their batting innings.

Despite being restricted to accumulating only 166 runs in their batting innings, Josh Brown (80) had no problem finding the boundary whilst he had his bat in hand.

He finished his innings with 11 boundaries, with four of them being sixes off his 50-ball innings.

Stars openers Tom Rogers (53) and Sam Harper (84*) didn’t want to mess around with this run chase, getting off to a blistering start and ultimately setting their side up for their fourth win of the season.

The pair put together an outstanding 84-run partnership, which most certainly had the Renegades scrambling with most of their bowlers struggling to find an answer to the pressure that was applied from the visitors.

Next up for the Stars, they will host the Adelaide Strikers at the MCG on Tuesday. This is a venue that is kind to the Stars, who have never lost to Adelaide in Melbourne in the history of the competition.

As for the Renegades, they will need to lick the wounds quickly as they have a date with the bottom placed Sydney Thunder on Monday. A game that is super important for the Renegades to win if they are to stay alive in the BBL finals race.

Earlier on Saturday, the Brisbane Heat took care of the Sydney Thunder at home as they welcomed back a couple of Test Cricket stars back into their line-up.

Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne were key pillars in helping the Heat gain their fourth win of the season, despite David Warner’s best efforts to lift his side to only their second win of the season.

Warner starred again for the Thunder in the opening innings, putting together 82 runs off 55 balls before he was run out by Nathan McSweeney.

As for the Heat, Khawaja made an instant impact for his side by opening the batting and staying in for a long time.

The recently retired Test opener put together a match-winning 78 run innings to help set up his side with an easy chase down of the 180 posted by the Thunder.

Matthew Renshaw also made a splash when he came into bat at four, scoring 42 runs and remaining not out at the conclusion of the game.

Next up for the Heat, they will look to continue their winnings way then they take on the Hobart Hurricanes away from home on Wednesday.

And for the Thunder, they’ll look to bounce back from their seven wicket loss when they host the Renegades on Monday.