Renegades retire Mohammad Rizwan in a must-win clash against Thunder

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Perhaps Melbourne Renegades were a bit late in realising that. And when they did take a desperate measure, that is, retiring out Mohammad Rizwan to get the most out of the last few overs, it did not yield the results they were hoping for.

First overseas retired out player in BBL

Batting against the Sydney Thunder in a game that was a must-win for the Renegades’ survival, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan was called back on the last ball of the eighteenth over. At that point, he was batting on 26 off 23 balls. Apparently, this was a tactical decision taken by the coaches and made Rizwan the first overseas BBL player to be retired out.

The wicketkeeper-batter has had a terrible season with the Renegades, where he has barely scored at above a run-a-ball. He averages 20.87 with a strike rate of 101.82. This is the worst strike rate, by a huge margin, among all players who have faced at least 150 balls this BBL season.

Renegades’ final chances wane

For the Renegades, retiring Rizwan didn’t work the way they wanted. Will Sutherland, who came in his place, was run out after scoring just one run. Eventually, the Renegades lost the game by four wickets through the DLS method.

Earlier this edition, Nic Maddinson, who represented Sydney Thunder, was similarly retired by his team when he was batting on 30 off 26 balls.

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