Melbourne Renegades 130 for 6 (Peake 42*, Turner 1-1, Paris 1-7) beat Perth Scorchers 127 (Hardie 44, Sandhu 4-28, Hassan 2-26) by four wickets
After knocking Scorchers over for 127 from 19.2 overs at Perth Stadium on Wednesday night, Renegades almost made a meal of the modest chase before Peake came to their rescue.
With four to win off the last ball, Peake, who headed straight from the ground to the airport bound for Africa – where he will captain Australia at the Under-19 World Cup – shimmied across in pre-meditated fashion and paddled Aaron Hardie’s full delivery over fine leg deep into the stands.
Renegades’ pursuit had looked forlorn in the 17th over when Peake was given out for 15 with a soft signal, after Scorchers captain Ashton Turner snared a difficult tumbling catch. But Peake was reprieved – and subsequently hounded by the parochial Perth crowd – after replays showed the ball touched the ground while in Turner’s hand as he somersaulted backwards.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Peake said. “To do it here in front of all the Scorchers fans is pretty special and what you grow up dreaming of doing. I had a bit of luck and [I am] just happy that it all paid off tonight.”
After Josh Brown (22) teed off early, Renegades were cruising at 51 for 1 from six overs before being restricted to 23 for 4 from the next eight.
At one stage, 50 balls passed without a boundary, before Peake dominated a 42-run sixth-wicket stand with skipper Will Sutherland (15) and rode his good fortune to finish his BBL campaign on a stunning high.
