More than 60,000 expected at the MCG on Sunday as the Stars and Renegades face off in the first Melbourne derby of BBL|15
Melbourne Stars v Melbourne Renegades: match preview
The match will be played almost 10 years to the day since the famous night the two teams drew an enormous 80,883 people to the 'G, a crowd total that remains competition's high watermark.
A decade on, with the table-topping Melbourne Stars returning home for their first match at the MCG since December 18, and Melbourne Renegades keen to snap a three-game losing streak, the preconditions are there for another big turnout.
Match facts
Who: Melbourne Stars v Melbourne Renegades
What: Match 22, KFC BBL|15
Where: MCG, Melbourne
When: Sunday, January 3. Bat flip at 5.20pm AEDT, first ball at 6.05pm AEDT
How to watch: Channel Seven, 7plus, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports
Listen: ABC, SEN Radio. Listen in standard and real-time with no delay to live play via Cricket Radio on the CA Live app. Find out more here
Buy tickets: Tickets are on sale here
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live and Big Bash apps
Officials: Donovan Koch and Gerard Abood (field), Drew Crozier (third), Chris Grant (fourth), Sarah Elliott (match referee)
Match squads
Melbourne Stars: Hilton Cartwright, Tom Curran, Sam Hain, Sam Harper, Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Glenn Maxwell, Blake Macdonald, Hamish McKenzie, Haris Rauf, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Marcus Stoinis (c), Mitch Swepson
Unchanged
The Stars remain unchanged for the highly anticipated Melbourne Derby. After a 4-0 start to BBL|15, the Stars were handed their first blemish on their otherwise impressive record on Friday night, courtesy of a blistering Max Bryant innings which pushed the Heat over the line.
Melbourne Renegades: Jason Behrendorff, Josh Brown, Harry Dixon, Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Hassan Khan, Ollie Peake, Muhammad Rizwan, Gurinder Sandhu, Tim Seifert, Matthew Spoors, Callum Stow, Will Sutherland (c), Andrew Tye
Ins: Harry Dixon, Callum Stow. Outs: Caleb Jewell (omitted), Fergus O'Neill (omitted)
Two changes for the Renegades as they look to topple their crosstown rivals and keep their own season on track. Spinner Callum Stow gets his first look in having been named in the squad alongside Harry Dixon, while Caleb Jewell and Fergus O'Neill have been omitted.
What's on the line?
Apart from Melbourne bragging rights until at least the return derby in a week's time, the Renegades desperately need a win to get their season back on track. With one win from four games, the 'Gades sit seventh and will quickly lose touch with the top four if they can't get some points on the board soon. Despite dropping their first game of the season in their last match against the Heat, the Stars are flying in BBL|15 and a fifth win of the campaign will keep them at the top of the table.
The two sides also have a new prize to fight for this season with the Melbourne Mace (pictured with both captains above) – a 1.4m tall trophy that's plinth will light up with the winner's colours – to be awarded to the winning side after every BBL and WBBL Melbourne derby.
Club news
Melbourne Stars
Melbourne Renegades
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Players to watch
Glenn Maxwell (Stars): The mercurial allrounder scored an incredible 90 of 52 balls with 10 sixes and 20 not out off 10 balls in his two innings against the Renegades last season as the Stars won both games amid their incredible run to the finals. Maxwell is the all-time leading run-scorer in the history of the Melbourne derby but is yet to fully find top gear in BBL|15, so Will Sutherland's side will no doubt be hoping to keep him quiet given how dangerous he can be if he gets in.
Jake Fraser-McGurk (Renegades): Looked good for his 38 from 29 balls against the Sixers on New Year's Day; his best knock of the season so far. Fraser-McGurk is yet to leave his mark in a Melbourne derby so he'll no doubt be keen to make an impact and help get the Renegades' BBL|15 campaign back on track.
Top performers
Most Runs
BBL|15 BKT Golden Bat
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
1
Sam Harper
S Harper
|
251 |
|
2
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
243 |
|
3
Nikhil Chaudhary
N Chaudhary
|
240 |
|
4
Josh Philippe
J Philippe
|
196 |
|
5
Ben McDermott
B McDermott
|
193 |
|
6
Matt Short
M Short
|
184 |
|
7
Max Bryant
M Bryant
|
179 |
|
8
Aaron Hardie
A Hardie
|
176 |
Most Wickets
BBL|15 BKT Golden Arm
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Haris Rauf
H Rauf
|
12 |
|
2
Peter Siddle
P Siddle
|
12 |
|
3
Gurinder Sandhu
G Sandhu
|
10 |
|
4
Jack Edwards
J Edwards
|
10 |
|
5
Daniel Sams
D Sams
|
10 |
|
6
Tom Curran
T Curran
|
10 |
|
7
Joel Paris
J Paris
|
10 |
|
8
Nathan Ellis
N Ellis
|
10 |
Most sixes scored
BBL|15
| Player | Total |
|---|---|
|
1
Finn Allen
F Allen
|
14 |
|
2
Matthew Renshaw
M Renshaw
|
14 |
|
3
Nikhil Chaudhary
N Chaudhary
|
13 |
|
4
Cooper Connolly
C Connolly
|
12 |
|
5
David Warner
D Warner
|
12 |
|
6
Josh Brown
J Brown
|
11 |
|
7
Ashton Turner
A Turner
|
11 |
|
8
Max Bryant
M Bryant
|
10 |
Local knowledge
Rapid stats
- Melbourne Stars have won their past three BBL matches against the Renegades; the last and only time they recorded a longer winning run against them was a six-match span from December 2013 to January 2016.
- Five of Melbourne Renegades' past six BBL matches have been won by the team bowling first on the day, including each of the last three; the Renegades have won two of those six games.
- Melbourne Stars have won their past five BBL matches in Victoria; a sixth consecutive win in this match would equal their longest winning run in their home state in the history of the competition (won six from December 2019 to January 2020 and again from January 2013 to January 2014).
- Gurinder Sandhu (Melbourne Renegades) has taken nine wickets at a strike rate of 14 across his past six BBL innings, including figures of 3-29 the last time he faced the Melbourne Stars (January 4, 2025).
- Sam Harper (Melbourne Stars) has scored 231 runs at an average of 115.5 across his past four BBL innings; although, he's recorded scores of 0 and 1 in his past two innings against the Renegades last season.
KFC BBL|15 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
HUR
|
7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.187 | 0 | 10 |
|
2
SCO
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.32 | 0 | 8 |
|
3
STA
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.091 | 0 | 8 |
|
4
HEA
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -0.786 | 0 | 6 |
|
5
SIX
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.202 | 0 | 4 |
|
6
STR
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -0.045 | 0 | 4 |
|
7
REN
|
5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -0.636 | 0 | 4 |
|
8
THU
|
6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -1.429 | 0 | 2 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points