Perth Scorchers vs Melbourne Renegades Preview: Home comforts for Men in Orange

Perth Scorchers will start their home stadium at the Perth Stadium with a match against Melbourne Renegades in match #25 of the Big Bash League 2020-21. The Renegades are bottom of the standings with four points from six matches winning only once. The Scorchers are sixth in the points tally with six points, one win and three losses.

Perth Scorchers are coming off a seven-wicket win over Adelaide Strikers after failing to win their first four matches. They are yet to win a Bash Boost point in the season, while one match has ended as ‘No Result’. Batting has been their biggest worry with only Mitchell Marsh aggregating more than 100 this season (108 runs, SR 118.68).

Bowling hasn’t been at its best, although Jhye Richardson (nine wickets, ER 6.38) has managed to hold his own. Andrew Tye has been a disappointment (ER 10.00) and will look to bounce back in this fixture.

The Scorchers will have their full squad from the win against Adelaide Strikers at their disposal. With their first win of the season in the bag, expect them to continue with the same playing XI.

The Renegades started the season with a win – incidentally against the Scorchers. However, that’s where all the good news ended. The Renegades have lost their next five matches, including the latest against Sydney Thunder via DLS method.

While Shaun Marsh continues to defy age with scintillating form (233 runs, Avg. 38.83), the likes of Sam Harper (105) and Rilee Rossouw (99) have not stepped up. Even with the ball, it has been about the duo of Kane Richardson (nine wickets) and Peter Hatzoglou (seven wickets).

Considering the COVID-19 scare and the worries about a state border lockdown, the Renegades have got their entire squad to Perth.

The Scorchers have won 10 of the 13 matches against the Renegades so far. However, the Renegades have won three of the last five between these sides.

When the sides met earlier in the season, man-of-the-match Josh Lalor (3/30) and Kane Richardson (3/22) restricted the Scorchers to 130 all out. With Shaun Marsh scoring a fluent 62 off 47 balls, the Renegades strolled to a seven wicket win with 21 balls remaining.

So much has changed between the previous match between these sides and now. The Scorchers have improved with every match and have picked up their first win of the season in the recent match. The Renegades, on the other hand, have gone from one loss to another. With the stakes high for the winner, expect a tough battle for points.

This could be a battle between the Marsh brothers as Mitchell and Shaun face off. Mitch Marsh has been putting up solid efforts for the Scorchers, while Shaun has been the best batsman of the tournament. This could be the best chance for the Scorchers to get back to winning ways against the Renegades.