BBL drama over 'embarrassing' turf as all-time catch helps Gades ...
The Melbourne Renegades’ imports took to the “embarrassing” Marvel Stadium conditions comfortably with a trio of match-winning cameos on Monday night.
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MATCH CENTRE: Renegades vs Scorchers scorecard and more
Tim Seifert (28), Jacob Bethell (30) and Laurie Evans (24) all adapted to the state of Marvel Stadium to lead the Melbourne Renegades to a two-wicket victory over the Perth Scorchers.
While the Renegades survived a late scare before reaching the target, the three internationals had brought the required rate below a run a ball by the time of their dismissals.
The surface’s patchy lines racing from end to end prompted mass criticism throughout the course of the match.
Australian great Lisa Sthalekar slammed the condition of Marvel Stadium on X, labelling it an “absolute joke”.
“Absolute joke. Embarrassing to have a professional T20 competition even on it!” she wrote.
Is the ground at Marvel up to standard? | 00:56
It took just six overs for former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin to see a lack of trust in the surface.
“One of the most important things in the field is being able to trust your feet and I think there’s a couple of spots on this field where you can’t trust your feet,” he said on Fox Cricket.
It’s understood the RMIT University graduation was recently held at Marvel Stadium and restricted the curators’ time to prepare the outfield to its capacity.
The stadium has also hosted four big concerts in the past few months, with Coldplay, Travis Scott, The Weeknd and Pearl Jam all performing since the end of the men’s AFL season.
Despite the uneasy looking surface, the Renegades’ motorcycle show carried on as normal across the ground prior to the game and at the innings break.
It follows criticism of the Sydney Thunder’s home ground during Saturday’s Sydney Smash.
Rising star Cooper Connolly continued his terrific form in a losing cause, striking a clinical 66 from 50 deliveries and taking 1-17 off three overs.
Connolly adjusted to the outfield by taking to the skies, hitting six sixes to go with his one four.
The left-hander’s six tally, which was greater than the number of fours hit during the Scorchers’ entire innings, was highlighted by a pair of sixes over cover.
Connolly hits the ROOF at Marvel | 00:49
FINN’S FIRST OVER WOES
Perth Scorchers’ marquee opener Finn Allen failed to make it through the first over of his side’s innings for the third consecutive match.
Allen was dismissed second ball against the Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes after hitting a six and four first ball in respective matches.
On Monday night the Kiwi went without scoring on the third ball of the innings, dismissed by Renegade seamer Fergus O’Neill.
INSANE underarm run-out from Harvey | 00:37
HARVEY’S HANGER
A Mackenzie Harvey screamer was the perfect start to the Melbourne Renegades’ bowling Power Surge.
Fielding at mid-wicket, Harvey ran back and plucked a one-handed catch off the bat of Matthew Spoors.
The Scorchers were fighting back into the contest at that point, with Spoors and Cooper Connolly adding 49 for the fifth wicket.
The match got underway at 7:15pm from Marvel Stadium.
Melbourne Renegades squad: Will Sutherland (c), Jacob Bethell (England), Josh Brown, Laurie Evans (England), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Fergus O’Neill, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Gurinder Sandhu, Tim Seifert (New Zealand), Callum Stow, Jon Wells, Adam Zampa
Perth Scorchers squad: Ashton Turner (c), Ashton Agar, Finn Allen (New Zealand), Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Nick Hobson, Matthew Hurst (England), Josh Inglis, Bryce Jackson, Keaton Jennings (England), Matt Kelly, Lance Morris, Matthew Spoors, Andrew Tye
