3 minute read
The Mitch Marsh v Shaun Marsh showdown lived up to all of the hype when the two brothers went head to head at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.
Getting bragging rights over his older brother was sweet for Mitch Marsh, but getting a win for the Perth Scorchers was the sweetest thing of all.
Marsh put aside weeks of self-inflicted frustration to produce a man-of-the-match effort in the Scorchers' 11-run win over the Melbourne Renegades on Saturday night.
The match will be remembered for the Marsh v Marsh showdown, which lived up to all of the hype.
Mitch came out on top in front of 23,869 fans at Optus Stadium - but not by much.
The Perth Scorchers skipper struck an unbeaten 56 off 22 balls to lift his side to 7-196, with the onslaught including a blitz of five sixes in the final two overs.
In reply, Shaun Marsh cracked 55 off 38 balls to bring the Renegades to within sight of victory, only for the defending champions to crumble following his dismissal.
At one point Mitch Marsh brought himself on to bowl to Shaun - and both brothers lapped up the experience.
Mitch was grinning from ear to ear, while Shaun had a subtle smile on his face.
"You've got to love it. It was an awesome experience, the crowd was unbelievable," Mitch said.
"For us personally it was a pretty big build-up over here in the west. But once you get out on the field, I saw him as a Renegade, nothing more.
"I told him he should have left my first ball, a bit of respect. He tried to hit me out of the park.
"(The planned hug) went out the window. As soon as I got the competitive juices out in the middle there was no hugging."
The Scorchers were the wooden spooners last season, and would have slipped to 0-2 if they had lost to the Renegades.
Marsh, who was playing just his second match since returning from a broken hand, was desperate to avoid that situation.
"It's a huge win for us. In this competition now, momentum early is such a key thing," Marsh said.
"It was a big game for us. Hopefully we can take that momentum to Adelaide on Monday night."
The Renegades (0-2) will be aiming to turn around their fortunes in Tuesday's clash with the Hurricanes in Hobart.
Rookie coach Michael Klinger feels his team are close to breaking through for a win - especially given that Shaun Marsh is in his ranks.
"He's going to win us some games off his own bat," Klinger said.
"It's not the start we want at 0-2, but I've got a lot of confidence in the guys."
