Sams, Hales power Thunder to fifth straight win

Daniel Sams and a rejuvenated Alex Hales destroyed Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium to set up red-hot Sydney Thunder's fifth-straight BBL victory.

An almost flawless Thunder (7-3) stormed to second on the ladder after Sams (98 not out off 44 balls) and Hales (63 off 28) powered them to a massive 7 for 209 after being sent in. Their disciplined bowlers then tore through meek Renegades batting as Thunder cemented their standing as the BBL's in-form team.

The crushing 129-run victory - the third heaviest in BBL history - was made even more impressive for Thunder after stand-in captain Chris Green was a late withdrawal due to being a close contact of a person who tested positive for Covid-19.

The Hales-Sams show

Thunder have emerged as a serious title contender even without Hales firing. The English import had a highest score this season of just 35 and also missed a couple of matches due to testing positive to Covid-19.

But Hales was always going to emerge from the rut and he did so with trademark pyrotechnics featuring five sixes. The opener needed just 17 balls to surpass his previous best of the season, relishing the short boundaries and launching several slog sweeps into the second tier of the grandstands.

He was especially ruthless against Afghanistan's Zahir Khan, smashing two sixes in his first over, before eventually holing out in the 12th over.

There was no respite with Sams, elevated to No.4 after Ashes-bound Sam Billings' departure, signalling his intention with a second-ball six, and he dominated square of the wicket much like Hales. Sams, who boasts of the highest strike-rate in the tournament, notched his highest BBL score with brute force highlighted by eight sixes.

Needing six runs off the final ball, Sams agonisingly fell short of a deserved century with a miscued boundary, but the eye-catching knock of Australia's T20 World Cup squad member surely may have caught the attention of the national selectors.

Zahir struggles amid onslaught

Renegades' attack was without speedster James Pattinson and allrounder Mohammad Nabi, whose spin was particularly handy in their previous outing. Left-arm seamer Josh Lalor made his season debut but struggled to find his rhythm as Renegades had no answer against Hales and Sams with the pair especially laying into Zahir, who finished with 1 for 49 off three overs.

Zahir has had a strong season with 10 wickets at an economy rate of 7.81 but he copped a flogging and his confidence slumped. Spearhead Kane Richardson and the youngster Will Sutherland tried hard to stymie the runs but to no avail.

Highly-rated Sutherland has had an underwhelming BBL season but showcased his obvious talent by clean bowling Thunder stand-in captain Jason Sangha. He finished with 1 for 23 off 3 overs in a rare positive for Renegades.

Thunder's attack didn't miss a beat without the services of Green and spearhead Saqib Mahmood, who returned to the UK as part of England's T20 squad for the Caribbean. Pakistani speedster Mohammad Hasnain and legspinner Tanveer Sangha returned as Thunder's well-oiled machine never gave Renegades a sniff.

Hasnain bowled swiftly from the get go to set the tone and he was well supported by seamer Gurinder Sandhu fresh off claiming his third hat-trick in Australian cricket.

In his first over back after being sidelined due to Covid-19, Sangha bowled Aaron Finch with a perfect legspinner as Thunder could do no wrong. Sams' terrific performance continued when he claimed the wicket of Mackenzie Harvey as Thunder's irresistible form showed no signs of abating.

It might have just been a reality check for Renegades, who had leapfrogged two places off the bottom after victories against Covid-19 decimated opponents Melbourne Stars and Heat.

They would have felt confident of giving the daunting total a shake under the closed roof but never threatened after losing three wickets in the four-over powerplay. Veteran Shaun Marsh, who has inserted confidence in the team since his recent return, was run out in the third over and skipper Nic Maddinson fell a few balls later as Renegades crashed.

The burden was on Finch, who was dropped at slip in the second over, but he couldn't conjure heroics as Renegades were embarrassingly bowled out in the 15th over.

Renegades will need to return to the drawing board after a confidence denting defeat.