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Melbourne Stars face top sides Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers in their last two matches as they fight for a spot in the Big Bash League finals.

Melbourne Stars batsman Nick Larkin says execution at the death is crucial to his side's BBL finals chase after they were overrun late in a stunning five-wicket defeat by the Melbourne Renegades.

The last-placed Renegades needed 63 off the last five overs at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday night and 41 off the final three, but still got home with two balls to spare thanks largely to young gun Mackenzie Harvey's powerful hitting.

The defeat was a costly one for the Stars, who would have moved into second spot in a congested table with a win over their cross-town rivals.

Instead they sit third, having played one more match than each of the other teams in the finals hunt.

The Stars now face a difficult finish to the regular season with matches against top-two sides, the Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers.

"Pretty much every game's a final and that's the case for four or five teams," Larkin said.

"We've just got to stump up and finish the games because we're getting ourselves in a lot of good positions.

"When we get in the kill zone like we have, unfortunately we've let a couple slip, and they hurt you because we could be safely tucked away in second on the table.

"But if we play our best we'll get those wins."

The Stars have averaged 66 runs from the opening 10 overs of their past four innings and while they would like to improve the early run rate, it is not a major concern.

"We know that the way the tournament is working this year, and the formula for us, is you've got the power surge in the last 10 (overs) and you tend to have guys in," Larkin said.

"Bowlers are under pressure and bowlers miss under pressure, but in the first 10 overs it's a fraction different to that.

"We would like to be 80 or 90 but if we're not we try not to panic - we try to hang in and go deep."

One positive for the Stars on Wednesday was the return of Nathan Coulter-Nile, who took 3-12 from his first 15 balls before Harvey got hold of him.

Coulter-Nile finished with 3-41 from his four overs and was out first ball when he was promoted to No.4 in the batting line-up.

But the explosive all-rounder's return from more than three weeks out with a calf injury is a boost at the business end of the season.

"He's super-experienced, incredibly skilful and you saw from his first few overs tonight how good he is," Larkin said.

"He'll add a lot to us and it's great to have him back.

"Unfortunately, a guy (Harvey) just batted better than he bowled there at the end and that happens sometimes in T20 cricket."