Maxwell blasts Stars to derby victory over winless Renegades

The match in a tweet: Maxi masterclass extends Renegades losing streak to eight, after the Stars captain spearheaded the chase with a jaw-dropping seven sixes #BBL09

The score: Melbourne Renegades 7-168 (Marsh 63, Harris 42; Coulter-Nile 2-29, Lamichhane 2-39) lost to the Melbourne Stars 3-169 (Maxwell 83no, Cartwright 35; Patel 1-21)

Maxwell times chase to perfection in jaw-dropping knock

The hero: It was an innings equal parts clever and brutal from Maxwell, who waited and waited as the required run rate gradually climbed to 12 an over before finally unleashing a sequence of jaw-dropping leg-side sixes to steer the Stars to a comfortable victory. The Stars captain hit an astonishing 49 off his final 16 balls, to finish unbeaten on 83 from 45 deliveries.

With the run chase seemingly hinging entirely on him, Maxwell played sedately after arriving at the crease at 3-54 in the seventh over as he and Nick Larkin (33 not out off 28 balls) took stock.

He pushed singles off each of his first six balls before slowly reaching a boil, pasting Will Sutherland for six over fine leg and exchanging words with his opposite number Dan Christian, before exploding when 60 runs were required off the final five overs. Ably supported by Larkin, Maxwell took the lead and finished the game with a six off Christian as the Stars remarkably reeled in their target with eight balls to spare.

The supporting cast: He didn't get a hit in the Stars' win over the Sydney Thunder two nights ago but Hilton Cartwright made the most of his promotion to opener to give a reminder of how powerful the he is. Ricky Ponting on Channel Seven labelled a booming straight drive down the ground "as good as any shot we've seen tonight" as the two-Test batsman helped the Stars take 42 off the Power Play.

Cartwright only wanted to up the ante further Immediately after the initial six overs, belting a four and a six off Cameron Boyce's first two balls after the fielding restrictions were relaxed. But the leg-spinner had the last laugh later that over, clean bowling him with one that slid straight on.

The consolation effort: The Renegades' miserable season continued but Shaun Marsh's fondness for Marvel Stadium only grew as the classy left-hander notched his highest score in the BBL since crossing from the Scorchers. Marsh now has 301 runs at 75.25 in six innings at the Docklands venue, having previously enjoyed away games against the 'Gades during his eight-year career with Perth.

The veteran thrived after being elevated to open the batting in Aaron Finch's absence, hitting four boundaries in the space of seven deliveries in typically stylish fashion and his 86-run stand with Marcus Harris, who had also been promoted, was the Renegades' best opening stand of the tournament as the left-handed duo laid a healthy platform.

Marsh makes most of batting promotion

It has been a consistent campaign from Marsh, who has scored between 37 and 63 in six of his eight innings. Two runs short of 300 for the tournament, he is now behind only Marcus Stoinis among the leading run scorers. His caught-and-bowled exit to Sandeep Lamichhane continued an interesting trend; three of his four dismissals at Marvel have been to spin.

The catch: He's two metres tall but Beau Webster showed big men can fly, soaring to take a screamer off Dunk to atone for Patel's earlier drop to hand the Renegades a second Power Play wicket.

The flop: The form of Marsh, Finch and Sam Harper has mostly ensured the Gades have made good starts to their batting innings in BBL|09, but they continue to have issues capitalising on early momentum. After racing to 2-146 with four overs to go with big-hitters Beau Webster and Dan Christian at the crease, the Renegades lost 5-22 to crawl to 7-168. Haris Rauf bowled a brilliant final over, conceding just two, but the reigning BBL champions will be dirty at their inability to post a bigger total.

Beau Webster has been a revelation this season and he again added a 15-ball 25 with a pair of sixes to have the hosts seemingly on track for 180-plus score. But Dan Christian (12 off 10) and Tom Cooper (15 off 13), both of whom were integral in the side's maiden title last summer, continued their middling campaigns. Harper was a victim of the Marsh-Harris opening partnership extending into the second half the innings; he top-scored in their most recent match but tonight was shunted down to No.6 below the Renegades' specialist 'finishers' and scored a golden duck.

The drop: Samit Patel must have wanted the ground to open up after waiting an eternity for this high ball off a Ben Dunk swipe to come back to earth and then barely getting a hand on it. It came only minutes after he was thrown the ball for the first over the innings and dismissed the uber-consistent Marcus Stoinis for a duck.

pic.twitter.com/n0ijJsOBjV Uh oh. Not quite the impression Samit Patel wanted to leave with the home crowd 😬 #BBL09 January 10, 2020

The next stop: Both sides have just two days before they are back in action for Sunday's double-header, with the Renegades heading to Adelaide to face the Strikers in the afternoon game before the Stars host the Sydney Sixers at the MCG. Stars remain top of the table while the Gades remain rooted to the bottom.

Melbourne Renegades XI: Shaun Marsh, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Beau Webster, Samit Patel, Dan Christian (c), Tom Cooper, Will Sutherland, Cameron Boyce, Joe Mennie, Richard Gleeson

Melbourne Stars XI: Marcus Stoinis, Hilton Cartwright, Ben Dunk, Glenn Maxwell (c), Seb Gotch, Nick Larkin, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Clint Hinchcliffe, Lance Morris, Haris Rauf, Sandeep Lamichhange