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THERE were quicker and cheaper wickets, but the Melbourne Stars knew Aaron Finch was their man.
So despite highlights aplenty from their array of heroes, it was a superb diving catch to remove the Renegades skipper that prompted the biggest Stars celebration as they broke their cross-town rival's Big Bash hold in the season-opener at the MCG.
After Finch - who made 178 unbeaten runs in two winning knocks against the Stars last season - skied man-of-the-match Luke Wright to mid-on and Hussey dived to take a superb running catch, the party was on.
The Stars, having been sent in, posted a club-record 7-208, then immediately had the 'Gades on the ropes with three top-order wickets.
Finch blasted his way to 32 before he fell at 44, then English import Jos Buttler and Peter Nevill put on 67 for the fifth wicket.
Luke Wright raises his bat after reaching his fifty. Source: News Limited
But when Jackson Bird picked them up in consecutive balls with the score on 111, the final score of 132 was only academic in a 76-run hiding.
And capping a bad night for the men in red, fast bowler Jayde Herrick strained a side muscle and left the field midway through his third over.
He'll have scans on Saturday, but will likely miss much of the tournament.
Bird, in his first elite-level match since suffering stress fractures to his back in the fourth Ashes Test at Durham in August, was as impressive as he could have been in the slap-and-dash format.
The angular Tasmanian had great shape and bounce in nabbing 4-31, despite Finch having hit him for six over cover on his first ball of the night.
Bird was clearly delighted by his return on the ground on which he made his Test debut last year before taking 11 wickets in his first two matches in the baggy green.
But the match was set up by Wright, who bludgeoned five sixes in his best MCG score of 70 off just 32 balls on an outfield that might never have played with the rope so far inside the fence.
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The only bright light for the Renegades was the ageless Muthiah Muralidaran, who was the proverbial boy with his finger in the dyke, holding back the tide of Stars runs.
The Sri Lankan legend, as his teammates were plundered by merciless batting from Wright, Cam White and Brad Hodge, was rewarded for both his control and reputation.
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White, after holing out for 53 off 38, said the Stars had planned to keep the off-spinner at bay and plunder his mates.
The second part of that plan was successful, but Wright was unable to fulfill his end of the bargain, becoming Murali's victim.
Remarkably, Murali gave up just one score over two - a six by Hodge that just cleared the fence - in his four overs that went for 1-23.
But all the while, the gluttonous Stars feasted at the other end.
It took a couple of overs for Wright and White to find stride, but they blazed away after that, sharing a 95-run opening stand in just 51 balls to set the winning platform.
Wright's form was so spectacular that it prompted some wags to suggest he was the most in-form English batsman in Australia as his countrymen stumble into town having already lost the Ashes.
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