Sydney Thunder Defeated 144 for 2 (Gilkes 74*, Ross 40*, Rocchiccioli 2-25) Melbourne Renegades 142 for 9 (Sutherland 42*, Qadir 2-20, Green 2-24) by eight wickets
The win moves the Thunder into fourth place in the table with just two regular-season games remaining, while the third-placed Renegades will need one more win to punch their ticket to the finals.
Rocchioli made it two wickets in two balls as Ollie Davies chipped one over midwicket for a golden duck, but Fawad Ahmed’s drop three balls later got the third wicket and let the Thunder off the hook by a wide margin.
It was Gilkes’ second half-century of the tournament, having scored an unbeaten 56 against the Brisbane Heat in December.
Sutherland’s late fireworks that helped the Renegades to 26 in their last over were much-needed, after a stretch of nine overs that included just two boundaries.
Some alarm bells will be ringing for the Renegades, having lost two of their last three games heading into the finals before succumbing to the Melbourne Stars in the last minute.
