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Renegades won't panic despite floggings

3 minute read

The Melbourne Renegades believe they can recover in the Big Bash despite suffering the competition's two biggest losses in a two-week period.

KANE RICHARDSON
KANE RICHARDSON Picture: Francois Nel/Getty Images

Kane Richardson insists it's not panic stations at the Melbourne Renegades despite suffering the two biggest losses in Big Bash history.

The Renegades' start to the season went from bad to worse on Saturday night, flogged by 129 runs by the Sydney Thunder in Canberra.

The Melbourne side lasted just 12.2 overs and were all out for 80, after the Thunder had piled on 8-209.

The loss was the second worst for any side in the Big Bash's history, but somehow still not the worst of the Renegades' season.

Just two weeks ago, they were flogged by a record margin of 145 runs by the Sydney Sixers when they were all out for 60 chasing 4-205.

But after a 1-3 start, Richardson maintains all is not lost.

He pointed at his own experience from 2016 in the Indian Premier League, where Bangalore won two of their seven before dropping just one more game to make the final.

Such a charge in the Big Bash is theoretically easier, given the top five make the finals.

"We've got 10 games to go, I think the beauty of this year with the bonus point you can come from way back," Richardson said.

"In this kind of league you can come back and peak at the right time.

"I remember Bangalore in 2016 made the final and we started horrendously.

"It's not ideal, but we know where we are at with this four-game block.

"If we can play well with confidence, the results should flow on from that."

The Renegades won the competition two years ago, before finishing bottom of the ladder last season.

Their nine straight defeats to kick off last season was the worst start to a title defence by any team in a major Australian men's sporting league this century.

Powerplays this year appear to be one of the team's biggest issues, after the Thunder whacked 0-50 from theirs on Saturday compared to the Renegades' 2-29.

The Renegades also lost the powerplay period in their losses to the Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes and were behind from the outset.

"First impact of the game needs to be better and, you know, with the ball we didn't execute, 0-50 off four overs isn't good enough," Richardson said.

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