Aaron Finch's side twice put themselves in a commanding position before allowing their supremacy to slip through their fingers
A far from magnificent seventh defeat in a row for Melbourne Renegades might have ended their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs, but it could get much worse for the 2018-19 champions.
Aaron Finch's side allowed two positions of authority to slip through their fingers in this one. They had Strikers 72 for 4 after 11 overs of the first innings thanks to Imad Wasim conjuring up some magic.
The Pakistan man was curiously not brought back for his final over and that allowed Ryan Gibson and Jake Weatherald to run wild - in what is an unbalanced yet talented Strikers batting line-up. They put on 96 for the fifth wicket which set a formidable 172 to win.
Despite losing Finch first ball, at 74 for 2 there was no reason why Renegades couldn't have upgraded their score in the same way. But for a side who have already registered three of their four lowest BBL scores in this edition of the competition, a collapse never seems far away.
Thirty-seven runs later and their misery was complete and a seventh straight loss - they won the opener against Perth Scorchers - was secure.
Even victory in all of their final six group matches might not be enough to secure a playoff berth, but a worse fate may follow.
Coach Michael Klinger may only have half a dozen matches remaining of his tenure but he still has a job to do to ensure Renegades don't slump to the worst record in BBL history.
Currently, Renegades' win percentage stands at 43.29, putting them seventh in the all-time list. Only Sydney Thunder (39.89) stand between them and the foot of the table.
Victory for title-contenders Thunder in each of their final seven matches would see their average climb to 40.77 and they would overtake Renegades if their record continues to take a beating.
No more Nabi, thanks to this brilliant Wes Agar yorker! 🔥 #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/Zi8oWAL9Ht
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 5, 2021
Seven wickets apiece for the Strikers' premier bowling trio led the team to their fourth group win of the campaign.
Aside from their confused batting line-up, Jason Gillespie's side possesses a potent attack which is capable of digging them out of any hole.
Peter Siddle, Rashid Khan and Wes Agar took 45 wickets between them last term. And though the Afghanistan spinner is set to depart during the latter stages, they look set to beat that effort already.
Agar is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament and produced the ball of an otherwise low-key day to get the dangerous Mohammad Nabi - a full yorker which pinged satisfyingly against off-stump.
With Rashid expected to take his leave on the coming week, Strikers will be reassured by the form of Danny Briggs who has seven wickets from his eight starts. After an uncertain start - he was the victim of the X Factor rule - the Blast's record wicket-taker has found his feet in Australia.
That ensures that Strikers will have a probing attack for the duration of the tournament. There remains work to do to finish in the top five but they might sneak in under the radar.
On Wednesday, Josh Philippe will once again experience the strange feeling of lining up for defending champions Sydney Sixers against the team from his home state Western Australia.
He traded Perth Scorchers for Sixers three years ago and has gone from strength-to-strength earning international recognition and an IPL contract.
Philippe was named as the player of the match during last year's final and has taken that form into the 2020-21 campaign, scoring 261 runs at a strike-rate of 144.19.
"It’s always special to play in my home state, even though I’m not playing for the franchise," said the 23-year-old.
"It’s a great rivalry, it’s against all my mates so it’s always good fun and is really special to me because it’s one of the opportunities I get to play in front of all my family and friends.
"There’s a little bit of added stuff there but I guess it’s just an opportunity to play against all my mates and get some bragging rights."
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