Matt Renshaw heroics drag Brisbane Heat to final-ball win

Renshaw ramped the last delivery of the match for four, when a boundary was needed to clinch a crucial victory over Melbourne Stars

Melbourne: Melbourne Stars 159-7, Brisbane Heat 160-7 - Brisbane Heat win by three wickets

Scorecard

A last-ball boundary from Matt Renshaw clinched victory for Brisbane Heat at the MCG as Melbourne Stars lost yet again in a game that went down to the wire.

Renshaw was the star of the show and the difference between the sides, finishing unbeaten on 90 as wickets tumbled around him.

With nine runs required in the final over to complete a chase of 160, Renshaw played back three dots in a row off Beau Webster, with only a wide getting Heat towards their target.

He then managed a two into the legside and another when a skier dropped safely between three fielders, before ramping the final delivery of the night over short fine leg and agonisingly to the rope as two Stars fielders scrambled after it.

Heat's win keeps them just about alive in the competition, still second-bottom but only a single point off fourth spot. They were indebted to Renshaw, without whom they'd have been dead and buried. Only Jimmy Peirson (22) and Usman Khawaja (14) joined him in reaching double figures.

^{Renshaw ramped the final ball for four to win the game (Matt King/Getty Images)}

Brisbane lost Josh Brown (5) in the second over, Khawaja in the fourth and Marnus Labuschagne (6) in the sixth as he top-edged a slog-sweep back to Clint Hinchliffe.

Three overs later, Sam Hain (5) was stumped off Hundred teammate Adam Zampa's first ball to leave Heat teetering at 59 for 4 before Renshaw – who muscled four sixes, as well as six fours – took the bull by the horns, remaining in control even when Peirson holed out to Hinchlifffe and James Bazley to long-off in the next over.

Earlier, Nick Larkin had guided Melbourne to 159 for 7 with a 36-ball 58 after Stars' innings had stuttered. Joe Clarke and Hilton Cartwright fell cheaply, before Tom Rogers and Webster began a recovery. When both fell, Larkin took charge, with James Seymour hitting two sixes in a brief cameo.

Michael Neser claimed figures of 4 for 25 for Heat, who have won their last two games.

Related Topics

• Sydney Sixers clinch win in table-topping clash

Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on England's Test tour with George Dobell in Pakistan, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.