Marsh all class as Renegades begin BBL|10 in style

The match in a tweet: The Melbourne Renegades are back! Impressive with bat and ball, this was performance akin of the BBL|08 champions as they trounced a rusty Perth Scorchers outfit

The Score: Perth Scorchers 130 (Aaron Hardie 33, Kane Richardson 3-22) lost to the Melbourne Renegades 3-131 (S Marsh 62) by seven wickets with 21 balls remaining

The Hero: Leg-spinner Peter Hatzoglou only got his chance in the Melbourne Renegades squad as a replacement player for Will Sutherland, who was called up by Australia A and was bowling to India at the SCG in first-class cricket while this BBL game was going on.

Thrown straight into the playing XI at the first opportunity, Hatzoglou was given the ball for the fourth over of the innings with Perth already three wickets down. While that opening over was lashed to the off-side boundary three times by Ashton Turner, he showed enough promise and threat to see Finch bring him back in the ninth, with immediate results.

Cameron Bancroft was undone by the tall leggie's pace through the air, as he was but the prize scalp came in his third over with a wrong'un that spun back into Mitch Marsh for his second lbw of the innings.

The Supporting Cast: Kane Richardson was at his usual world-class standard, and with his new new-ball partner in Josh Lalor, the combination really set the game up for the Renegades with three wickets in the first three overs.

 

Lalor has proved an astute pick-up for the Gades, joining from the Brisbane Heat, and showed plenty of nous to dot up Perth's New Zealand import Colin Munro, forcing him into a rash shot that only served to york himself and get bowled.

 

Richardson dropped his length to out-fox Josh Inglis and Lalor added his second when Joe Clarke top edged to be caught behind. After the first three overs, the Scorchers were 3-19 and already in deep trouble.

The opener in form: With all the talk around Australian cricket about opening batsmen at the moment, Shaun Marsh continues to just quietly go about his business accumulating bulk runs in typically classical style with a dominant 62 off 47 balls under lights in Hobart.

 

Marsh has so often been on the wrong end of the worst social media but has enjoyed a groundswell of support in recent days as those in the longer format have failed to really stamp ownership on the vacancy in the Australian Test team.

At 37 years young it seems unlikely he would add to his 38 Tests for Australia, but Justin Langer did leave the door ever so slightly ajar this week ("You never discriminate against age. He's doing everything possible. His numbers in Sheffield Shield cricket – not only this year but the back end of last year – were absolutely elite.") and with Marsh adding another fifty, from 40 balls, the chat about an unlikely Test recall won't die down over the coming days.

The Big Moment: Ashton Turner has endured a torrid 12 or 18 months, suffering through injuries and a loss of form in the longer formats.

But he arrived in BBL|10 with a refreshed mindset and in some decent form after some stonking innings in the intra-squad games.

He had raced to 24 from 15, including five lashing boundaries, and looked in dangerous touch.

All of which makes the play by Sam Harper to shed a glove, scoop up the ball and throw down the stumps at the non-striker's end to run out Turner all the more important for the Renegades.

 

The Bash Boost: After Perth limped to 5-75 after their 10 overs, this was a welcome extra point for the Melbourne Renegades.

They sailed past their target with the first ball of the 10th over as Shaun Marsh flat-batted a six off AJ Tye that left the bowler quite bemused.

The captaincy: The Perth Scorchers surprised with Ashton Turner taking the captaincy for this match, despite the presence of club captain Mitch Marsh in the playing XI.

With Marsh coming back from an ankle issue, and no certainty to play the first couple of matches, all Perth's planning had been with Turner taking the reins, so they're sticking to that plan even with Marsh available.

The Next Stop: The Melbourne Renegades are back in action on Sunday evening, when they return to Blundstone Arena to face the Sydney Sixers. The Perth Scorchers, meanwhile, have three days' rest before their next game, against the Melbourne Stars in Launceston on Wednesday evening.

Melbourne Renegades XI: Aaron Finch (c), Shaun Marsh, Sam Harper (wk), Rilee Rossouw, Beau Webster, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Benny Howell, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Josh Lalor, Peter Hatzoglou.

Perth Scorchers XI: Josh Inglis (wk), Colin Munro, Joe Clarke, Mitch Marsh, Aston Turner (c), Cameron Bancroft, Aaron Hardie, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed.