DWAYNE Bravo starred with bat and ball as the Melbourne Renegades beat the Sydney Thunder to stay alive in the Big Bash League.A brilliant all-round performance from Dwayne Bravo kept the Melbourne Renegades’ hopes of reaching the Big Bash League semi-finals alive with a five-wicket win over the Sydney Thunder at Spotless Stadium.
Bravo took 2-26 from his four allotted overs as the Thunder made 173-5 with Usman Khawaja and Shane Watson (both 62) the stand-out performers yesterday.
The West Indies all-rounder then smashed 47 off 24 balls in a 91-run partnership with captain Cameron White (61) to guide the Renegades to a victory achieved with four balls to spare.
The home side came into the contest on the back of three straight defeats and requiring a shot in the arm to get their faltering campaign back on track.
They were given that by Khawaja and Watson. The duo made their runs off 42 and 43 balls respectively and added much-needed impetus following the early dismissal of Jacques Kallis for 13.
Watson almost saw out the rest of the innings only for Bravo to remove both him and Mike Hussey with the final two balls.
Chris Gayle (28) and Tom Cooper gave the Renegades a solid start in their reply but neither man advanced past 20.
Big-hitting Gayle pulled a short ball from Clint McKay straight to Fawad Ahmed while Cooper was bowled by Ahmed for 25.
They did, however, leave a platform on which Bravo and White were able to build.
Medium-pacer Gurinder Sandhu (0-38 off three overs) came in for some particularly rough treatment as the pair struck six fours and seven sixes between them to put their side in position to win.
By the time Andre Russell claimed the wickets of both men in the 18th over, the Victorians required just 10 off the final two overs.
And although Tom Beaton was run-out for six, Peter Nevill and Ben McDermott saw them home with ease.
The Renegades and the Thunder are now level on six points in fifth and sixth place respectively. They will need to win their final matches and hope other results go their way to progress to the semi-finals. (Sportsmax.com)