Sydney Thunder's star man Chris Gayle. Source: Getty Images
SYDNEY Thunder's ice-cool cavalry arrived on Friday night in the form of Chris Gayle, but the West Indies superstar was unable to rescue the Big Bash League franchise from mediocrity against Melbourne Renegades at ANZ Stadium.
Gayle was run out by Darren Pattinson for 12 in the fifth over when his sliding bat became stuck in the soft grass adjacent to the wicket, the dismissal starting a rapid rot as the Thunder were restricted to a lowly 7-116.
Gayle launched a towering six over the head of mid-on off Will Sheridan early, while Usman Khawaja was starting to look comfortable when the hosts reached 0-23 after four overs.
Gayle's departure was followed by a slew of wickets - the vast majority from poor shot selection as the run-rate dried up - as the Thunder crumbled to just 7-60 in the 14th over.
Perth Scorchers' record for the lowest team total in Australian Twenty20 history, the paltry 69 they posted on Wednesday night, appeared in some doubt before the lusty hitting of tailender Chris Tremain.
Tremain belted an unbeaten 37 from 23 balls, including three sixes, as he combined well with wicketkeeper Ryan Carters (18no) in an unbeaten stand of 56 to add a small amount of substance to the Thunder's total.
Despite Tremain's efforts, the Thunder are still staring down the barrel of a seventh consecutive BBL loss with Renegades skipper Aaron Finch coming off a match-winning century in the season opener.
Aaron O'Brien claimed figures of 3-15 to be the Renegades' best bowler, while Sri Lankan legend Muthiah Muralidaran snared 2-16 from his four overs.
Mark Cosgrove (12) and Khawaja (19) were both undone by Muralidaran's spin, while captain Chris Rogers (four), Azhar Mahmood (one) and Sean Abbott (three) put a low price on their wickets and were dismissed by O'Brien.
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