BBL: Melbourne Renegades keep Stars winless

The Melbourne Stars' perfect run of BBL finals appearances looks over after the Renegades belted them by six wickets at the MCG.

Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi starred for the Renegades, top-scoring with 52 from 30 balls after being promoted to No.4 in the order.

Nabi's off spin also dismissed Kevin Pietersen for 40 at a crucial stage of the Stars' innings.

The Renegades scored 4-159 in reply to the Stars' 4-157, winning with 13 balls to spare.

Dwayne Bravo closed out the Saturday night match with a straight six.

The Stars, who have made the finals in all six BBL seasons, are winless after four matches while the Renegades are flying at 4-1.

The Stars were well-placed halfway through their innings, with Pietersen and Ben Dunk looking set.

But Nabi had Pietersen caught at mid-off for 40 at the end of the 11th over, ending the 71-run partnership for the second wicket from 48 balls.

After scoring 82 in the first 10 overs, the Stars could only manage 75.

Dunk top-scored with 47 from 30 balls.

In the week of his axing from the Australian one-day side, Glenn Maxwell contributed 33 from 23 balls.

He and Marcus Stoinis (24no) closed out the Stars innings and their partnership of 51 only featured four boundaries.

Adding to the Stars' woes, Pietersen hurt an ankle during his innings and did not field.

While the Stars could not build on their solid start, captain Aaron Finch made a blistering start to the Renegades innings.

The opener walloped five fours and a six from his first six deliveries, with Michael Beer conceding 23 for the second over.

Fellow opener Marcus Harris fell for eight but there was plenty of speculation on social media that Stars captain John Hasting's catch at mid-off hit the ground first.

One-day spinner Adam Zampa gave the Stars hope when he bowled Finch for 43 from 22 balls with a wrong 'un, leaving the Renegades 2-72 after eight overs.

Nabi then came to the crease and combined superbly with Cameron White in a 72-run partnership that doubled the Renegades' score and took the game away.

Nabi's innings featured successive sixes off Zampa in the 10th over and after that, the Renegades were not threatened again.

White was unbeaten on 35.