Gilkes and spinners pelt Melbourne Renegades with a lopsided affair
Thunder after snapping wicket of Jonathan Wells (Twitter/ThunderBBL)
At Manuka Oval, Matthew Gilkes batted on a whole different pitch as his 55-ball 74* helped Sydney Thunder beat Melbourne Renegades, but the latter are still ahead of them on the point table.
Green, Qadir overshadowed Sutherland's cameo
If not for Will Sutherland's enthralling 42* off just 23 deliveries, the Renegades could post 142 on the board.
The visitors got off to a disastrous start, but the experienced duo of Martin Guptill and Aaron Finch steered the ship for the Renegades. But these two big names also could only do a little as they were reduced from 2-68 to 5-85 in the middle overs.
Captain Chris Green and Usman Qadir emerged to be the chief destroyers for the Thunder. They scalped two wickets each and were as miserable as an old landlady.
The Mega Show ft. Gilkes
In a chase of 143 runs, where the rest of the batters could only score 66 runs at a strike rate of 117.85, Thunder's Matthew Gilkes single-handedly smashed the Melbourne bowlers all across the arena.
His unbeaten knock of 74 comprised seven boundaries and a maximum, and he was equally potent against spinners and seamers.
The chase could have become tricky for Sydney when they quickly lost David Warner and Oliver Davies, but the partnership between Gilkes and Alex Ross guided their side across the line with nine balls to spare.
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