Led by Usman Khawaja and English import Alex Hales, Chris Tremain and his Sydney Thunder roared to a nail-biting KFC Big Bash League victory on Thursday evening, their second win on the trot to open this summer's ninth edition of the tournament.
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Tremain (0-41) went wicketless as the Renegades, a side he helped to last summer's title win, pushed to 5-169 from their 20 overs before Khawaja and Hales went nuts at the top of the Thunder's chase.
In adding 99 for the first wicket, Khawaja (66 from 46 balls) and Hales (68 from 38) combined to belt 16 boundaries and three maximums at Geelong's GMHBA Stadium, their side eventually winning by six wickets with just two balls to spare.
Khawaja was the first to go in the Thunder's chase and while skipper Callum Ferguson (4 from 7) and Matthew Gilkes (15 from 20) didn't make too much of an impact, Hales kept the ship steady before being uprooted in the 17th over.
Fortunately for the Thunder, who scored a shock, tournament-opening win over Brisbane two days earlier, Alex Ross (11 not out from 7) and Daniel Sams got the job done, the latter not needing to face a ball.
The Thunder's focus now turns to their first home game of the summer on Saturday, which they'll actually play at Canberra's Manuka Oval against the Adelaide Strikers.
Thunder coach Shane Bond said his side will welcome the support from the nation's capital as well, before pointing to his side's unflappable temperament as the catalyst for Thursday evening's victory, batting first the Renegades piled on 76 in the first eight overs.
"We're really clear and calm," said Bond.
"We didn't get off to the best start against the Renegades, we weren't ... executing our plans how we wanted to.
"We were under the pump, but there was no panic because we were clear about what we wanted to do. We were the same in the run chase.
"The most exciting thing for me is the simple stuff. We're just doing the simple things well, and they're doing it."
The Thunder face the Strikers from 6.10pm on Saturday evening.
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
