3 minute read

Melbourne Renegades were left feeling helpless against Mitch Marsh's aggressive approach with the bat in their last meeting with Perth Scorchers.

Melbourne Renegades are still scratching their heads about how to stop Perth Scorchers star Mitch Marsh being the match-winner again in their BBL clash on Boxing Day.

The explosive right-hander belted 86 off 53 balls when the teams met at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday, playing the lead role in extending the Scorchers' winning streak to five matches.

The man-of-the-match display followed Marsh's 100 not out against Hobart eight days earlier and continued a hot streak that included an unbeaten 77 in Australia's T20 World Cup-final victory over New Zealand last month.

Marsh won't admit it publicly, but he is arguably in the form of his life against the white ball.

"I probably don't want that to be a quote ... I'm just enjoying my cricket," he said.

"I love playing for the Scorchers, I'm enjoying consistency with everything I'm doing and that's relaying out onto the field.

"Hopefully I can continue that and the Scorchers can keep winning."

Renegades captain Nic Maddinson called upon Zahir Khan and Mohammad Nabi on Wednesday - and even sent down one over of left-arm orthodox spin himself - but admitted he had no answers to Marsh's powerful performance, which included five sixes and as many fours.

"It's pretty impressive to come out and play the way he does," Maddinson said.

"He gets off to a start so quick and puts everyone on the back foot straight away.

"We turned to the spin a little bit in the hope of trying to get him out or trying to put the clamps on him a little bit, but he just put the foot down and kept going after the spin as well.

"It made it quite difficult and he's in the form of his life, for sure, especially in the T20 format."

The Renegades can ill afford another Marsh masterclass as they attempt to recover from a 1-3 start to the season, but Maddinson said the plan of attack won't change at Marvel Stadium on Boxing Day.

"A couple of our guys haven't bowled to him before, so you're watching a lot of footage and watching him on the TV," Maddinson said.

"It's a different beast when you're out there in front of a crowd, the lights are on and you're under the pump.

"Everyone has been pretty well prepared, but it was just a guy (on Wednesday) who came out and was ultra-aggressive and put us under the pump.

"It felt like nothing worked at some stages, but we'll continue to put forward what we worked on during the week."