'Gades claim glory, Melbourne Mace in MCG thriller

Will Sutherland got the better of rival captain Marcus Stoinis as he lifted the Renegades to a dramatic four-wicket Melbourne derby win over the Stars in front of one of the largest crowds in BBL history.

Heavy-hitting Josh Brown top-scored with 84 off 48 deliveries for the Renegades, putting them in the box seat before a late collapse at the MCG on Sunday night.

But Sutherland stood up when needed, striking two massive sixes off Stoinis in the final over as the Renegades reached 6-177 and chased down their target with just one ball to spare.

Sutherland (19 not out off seven) carried the newly minted 'Melbourne Mace' trophy off the ground for the derby winners after hitting the winning runs with a commanding six over Stoinis' head.

"It was a bit of a dream come true as a Melbourne boy," Sutherland said.

"I've been at the Renegades for a long time, and this was a lot of fun.

"I was just trying to watch the ball and react to where it was supposed to go, and a couple came off, which is always nice."

The epic finish played out in front of 68,124 fans – the third-highest attendance in the BBL's 15-year existence.

Melbourne derbies have provided the top four attendances in the competition's history, including a record 80,883 in 2016.

"Huge night," Sutherland said. "I'm happy for Victorian cricket that this many people are showing up to the derby and it's always nice to beat these guys.

"It's a real rivalry and I'm glad we could get the first one of two over them (this season)."

The Renegades started their run-chase well, scoring at better than 10 an over in the opening powerplay, and looked in control when Brown and Mohammad Rizwan (41 off 38) added 29 runs in the power surge.

They were 1-127 after 14 overs but the Stars had a sniff when Mitchell Swepson (1-20) bowled Brown, and the Renegades lost 5-34 in less than five overs.

Haris Rauf (2-44) and Peter Siddle (2-39) struck blows that looked like helping the Stars over the line.

Ollie Peake hit a six off Rauf, was dropped and then run out in the last three balls of the penultimate over.

Then, with his side needing 13 off the final over, Sutherland cut the target in half when he hit Stoinis for six off the first ball, then sealed the result with another huge blow.

"We probably should've chased it with two overs left to go, but it's good to have takeaways and still win the game," Sutherland said.

"Our batting hasn't quite clicked and that showed again tonight, but we're not far off.

"We spoke about a 75-plus score, which Josh Brown was able to do, and he batted beautifully."

It was the Renegades' (2-3) second victory of the season, ending a three-match losing streak, while the Stars (4-2) have lost two in a row after winning their first four.

Sent in to bat, the Stars saw regular wickets fall in their 9-172, with veteran matchwinner Glenn Maxwell (one off four) out cheaply.

BBL leading run-scorer Sam Harper (20 off 10), his opening partner Tom Rogers (15 off 13) and captain Stoinis (16 off 14) also failed to fire.

Renegades seamer Gurinder Sandhu (4-41) combined with spinners Callum Stow (2-24) and Hassan Khan (1-26) to do most of the damage to the Stars' top order.

Tom Curran (38 off 18) and Campbell Kellaway (33 off 27) top-scored for a Stars outfit that managed just six sixes in their innings.

No.8 Curran provided some late hitting to lift the Stars to a competitive total but was run out in a mix-up with Rauf.

Swepson praised the Stars' determination, lauding Stoinis for rallying his troops as they mounted a fightback late in the Renegades' innings.

"It was great to see the fight, even when they were one-for and didn't need many, we put up a really good fight and kept coming at them," Swepson said.

"We kept making it really hard for them to score runs and that's why it got down to the last couple of balls."

KFC BBL|15 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	7	5	2	0	0	0.187	0	10
2 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	6	4	2	0	0	1.32	0	8
3 Melbourne Stars Men STA	6	4	2	0	0	1.091	0	8
4 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	6	3	3	0	0	0.316	0	6
5 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	7	3	4	0	0	-0.773	0	6
6 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	5	2	3	0	0	-0.045	0	4
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	5	2	3	0	0	-0.636	0	4
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	6	1	5	0	0	-1.429	0	2

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points