It was the Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald show at Etihad Stadium on Monday night.
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Victorians Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald have smashed the Melbourne Renegades back into Big Bash League finals contention, leading their side to an eight-wicket win over the Sydney Sixers at Etihad Stadium on Monday.
Hodge (72 off 51 balls) and captain McDonald (60 off 37) put on an unbeaten 124-run stand for the third wicket - which included six sixes in the final 22 balls - as Melbourne made it back-to-back wins after losing their opening two matches of the campaign.
Sydney set Melbourne a winning target of 162 after winning the toss and batting first, and despite a lull in the middle part of their chase, the Renegades (2-164) upped the ante late to win with 14 balls to spare.
McDonald overcame a slow start to his inning to finish with seven sixes, while Hodge hit five fours and three sixes in a brilliant knock.
Opener Aaron Finch was on fire early, but a brilliant Nic Maddinson catch off the bowling of Dominic Thornely ended his inning on 25 from 15 balls.
It was Thornely's turn to do his job in the field the next over, when he swallowed a regulation catch off Josh Hazlewood to dismiss Glenn Maxwell for just three as Sydney responded well to Finch's fast opening.
From there on, though, it was the Hodge and McDonald show, as the local heroes managed to survive some tight bowling from spinners Stuart MacGill (0-24) and Steve Smith (0-37) in the middle of the inning - overs 7-10 went for a total of just 16 runs - before unleashing a barrage of boundaries to win in style.
Earlier, the Sixers made a modest 6-161, with Moises Henriques top scoring for the New South Wales franchise with 41 off 30 balls.
It took until the 16th over for the Sixers to produce their title score - a six - and they finished their inning with just four maximums, a statistic that proved costly in the end.
The Renegades nabbed an early bonus with the wicket of marquee man Dwayne Bravo for just seven, but Michael Lumb (25), Nic Maddinson (29) and Smith (25) all chipped in while Henriques' knock boosted Sydney's total beyond 150 and into competitive territory.
However, the Renegades would have been well aware the target was achievable, as their own total of 188 was not enough at the same venue against the Perth Scorchers a fortnight ago, and 161 proved insufficient for the Sydney side.
Pacemen Dirk Nannes (2-36 off four overs) and Shane Harwood (2-28 off three) were the best-performed Renegades with the ball, while spinner Glenn Maxwell and Shahid Afridi chipped in with one wicket apiece.
The result sees the Renegades move into the top-four for the first time, going level with the Sixers on two wins, but their greater net run-rate saw the Melbourne outfit climb above their opponents.
