Shahid Afridi inspires Melbourne Renegades to their first victory of Big Bash Twenty20

Melbourne Renegades, the Australian Domestic team, registered their first win of the Big Bash Twenty20 League courtesy some splendid bowling from leg-spinner, Shahid Afridi. The match that was played at Stadium Australia, Sydney saw the visiting team post a decent total of 140 runs for the loss of eight wickets. In reply, the hosts could only muster 134 runs. The leg-spinner from Pakistan, who went wicket less in the previous two games, ended this drought as he notched three wickets while conceding 21 runs. Afridi was also pretty handy with the bat, as he made 16 runs. The all-rounder won the Man of the Match award for his excellent all-round performance.

Andrew McDonald, Melbourne's skipper, won the toss and decided to bat first. Melbourne Vanguards, Aaron Finch and Brad Hodge, provided a blistering start for the tourists. The two were fearless in their approach and played lofted shots over the 30-yard circle. Finch and Hodge’s on-field romance came to an end in the 11th over when the 20-year-old spinner Luke Doran showed the door to both batters. Renegades were left high and dry after losing both their openers. Afridi, along with Glenn Maxwell, tried his best to rebuild the innings; however, Thunders maintained pressure as Renegades lost the plot and fell like a house of cards. Luckily for them, some mighty blows from Abdul Razzaq in the death overs propelled the side to 140. Sydney Thunders, who were invincible until the six run defeat against Renegades, had a reasonable start to their innings with openers Chris Gayle and Tim Cruickshank scoring 59 runs for the first wicket. Cruickshank was the first man to be dismissed; “BOOM BOOM” Afridi celebrated in his typical fashion with hands held high towards the heavens. Usman Khawaja gave good support to Gayle, who was determined to finish the match early. It seemed easy sailing for the Thunders while the duo batted. However, after the demise of Khawaja, courtesy of Afridi, none of the batsmen showed any resistance to the opposition bowlers and Sydney Thunders fell six runs short of the total. Renegades will be hoping to build on this win when they go up against Sydney Sixers on January 2, 2012.

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Middlesex dominant against Derbyshire: County Championship Division Two

Middlesex were in a very good position in a match of the County Championship Division Two against Derbyshire being played at the County Ground, Derby in England.

The hosts were bowled out for 154 runs in their first innings while Middlesex reached 115 for the loss of just 1 wicket until the close of first day’s play on Wednesday.

Derbyshire captain Luke Sutton elected to bat first after winning the toss, but his team was unable to score a healthy first innings total. The wicket did not have much assistance for the bowlers, but there was some seam movement with the new ball.

The home team got off to a bad start, losing their opener Wayne Madsen early. He was sent back to the pavilion after adding just 5 runs to the total. However, first-drop Usman Khawaja and opening batsman Wes Durston tried to steady the innings for their team.

The pair scored 40 runs for the second wicket, but the Derbyshire opener Durston failed to carry onto the start he got to his innings and was dismissed for 20 runs off 43 balls with the help of 3 fours. Just three balls later, Chesney Hughes was also sent back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers.

Wickets kept on tumbling for the home team, as they lost the Pakistan-born Khawaja and middle-order batsman Greg Smith in a span of just 10 runs. They got out after scoring 16 and 3 runs respectively. Daniel Redfern also followed them after adding 13 runs to the total and Derbyshire were 6 down for 81 runs at that stage.

Luke Sutton and Jonathan Clare scored 14 runs each, but were unable to capitalise on the starts they got. The top score of the innings came from tail-ender Ross Whiteley, who was dismissed after scoring 28 runs. Tony Palladino remained unbeaten on 15 as he ran out of partners from the other end.

Medium-pacer Gareth Berg was instrumental with the ball. He did not give away anything to the batsmen and took 4 wickets in the innings. Tim Murtagh was also impressive with the new ball as he dismissed 3 batsmen.

The openers of the visiting team Chris Rogers and Scott Newman gave a steady start to their team. However, Newman got out after adding 17 runs to the total, as Middlesex lost their first wicket for 30 on the board.

Dan Housego walked out in the middle and gave good support to Rogers. The pair put together an unbeaten 85 runs for the second wicket before the umpires called the day off. At close of play, Rogers and Housego were batting on 66 and 24 runs respectively.

Tim Groenewald was the lone wicket-taker for the hosts on day one. He will be looking forward to get some support from his teammates if they are to keep the Middlesex batsmen in check.

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