Some would say Tom Rogers owed his captain a match-winning performance.
The Melbourne Renegades made the daunting trip to Perth still licking their wounds after bottling a chance to get bragging rights on their crosstown rivals last Saturday night at the MCG.
The bitter taste of disappointment would’ve lingered the most in the mouth of Rogers, who off his captain Will Sutherland’s bowling, comically juggled, then dropped a catch to give the Melbourne Stars’ danger man Glenn Maxwell a lifeline with two overs remaining.
With 22 required, Maxwell would contribute 10 including a crucial six, to help the Stars get across the line.
Meanwhile, his partner Hilton Cartwright would smash the winning runs in the final over off the bowling of Rogers, which concluded an expensive night for the Tasmanian, with figures of 1-39 off 3.4 overs.
The loss not only meant the Renegades lost the high profile Melbourne derby, but more importantly subjected them to their third straight defeat, with their finals chances slipping away, much like the catch that got away from Rogers.
Touching down on Western Australian soil, things went from bad to worse very quickly for the Renegades.
Having been set a target of 148 to chase, the visitors seemed very much in the contest with their season on the line.
However, a top order collapse had them in danger of challenging the Sydney Thunder for the lowest Big Bash score of all-time at 15, with the ‘Gades falling to 4-10 off just 4.3 overs.
Sutherland emerged from the sheds like a beacon of light to give the Renegades some hope, ensuring they were clear of any unwanted records before smashing 14 off the eighth over.
But with Marcus Harris the fifth to fall leaving the Renegades stuck on 44, the chief was in desperate need of a dance partner.
Rogers was ready to answer the call, in good form after taking two wickets with the ball, including key dismissals of opener Aaron Hardie, and the competition’s leading run scorer Cooper Connolly for a duck.
However, the Big Bash’s leading wicket taker would save his finest hour for when he had bat in hand.
Despite batting up the order at seven, Rogers played much more than a cameo appearance once he got to the crease, joining his captain for a crucial 92-run partnership.
Both Sutherland and Rogers took turns hitting the Scorchers all over the ground, leaving Perth’s bowling attack that had started the innings so well scratching their heads.
Sutherland in particular had brought the Renegades back from the shadows with a game-high 70 runs, with eight boundaries to his name.
But his untimely departure with just more than an over remaining and still 12 runs required meant it was over to Rogers to finish the job, with all the Renegades’ strong batsmen now in the dugout.
Rogers took the challenge personally, facing all of the last over and rejecting runs in order not to rotate the strike over to Gurinder Sandhu.
A no ball at the beginning of the final over spared Rogers’ wicket, which he would capitalise on to hit two boundaries en route to one of the great Big Bash victories of all-time.
A four to conclude proceedings brought his total to 49 not out off 31 balls, a career high for the 30-year-old in the Big Bash.
It marks a huge turnaround for Rogers, who just a few days ago was wondering if he had cost his team a chance at finals.
“I was really ashamed of the way I let the boys down against the Stars,” he told Channel Seven after hitting the winning runs.
Now with three games remaining including a rematch against the Stars, the Renegades are back in finals contention, with Rogers a key part of the squad that’s hoping to help the club clinch BBL title number two.
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