Sam Harper defied his team's plight and belied his own circumstances with a gem of a BBL innings.
The Melbourne Renegades No.3 combined superbly with Mohammad Nabi to wrest control from the Perth Scorchers on Thursday night at Marvel Stadium.
Chasing 103, Melbourne slumped to 4-17 in their season opener before Harper and Nabi belted 68 from 45 balls to set up their four-wicket win.
It is the first time the Renegades have beaten Perth in nine matches.
Harper batted like an established star, making 36 from 25 balls with three fours and two sixes.
But he has joined the Renegades this season from the Melbourne Stars as a replacement player, coming in for Test opener Aaron Finch.
It follows his heavy concussion in February last year during a Sheffield Shield game, which put him in hospital for three weeks.
"There were some lonely months spend in hospitals," Harper said.
"It was nice to firstly get back playing cricket and then getting back to doing what I love doing, in these stadiums, it's awesome.
"Obviously my body wasn't functioning as I would have liked, but it all ended up going okay."
Harper and Nabi only met a week ago, but again they looked like established teammates in their game-defining partnership.
"Obviously it was tough with the new ball, but I guess we were both trying to put a bit of pressure back on the bowlers, while (the ball) was doing a bit," Harper said.
"If we could get the scoreboard moving, which we did, we felt that might have to turn to spin ... that got it going for us."
Harper played cricket in Bristol during the Australian winter and Thursday night showed he has built some solid momentum heading into the BBL season.
Scorchers captain Mitch Marsh was impressed with Harper's innings.
"As much as it was disappointing (for us) to see him do well, it's great for young guys to come onto the scene and bat like that in front of millions of people on TV," Marsh said.
Harper is the Victorian wicketkeeper in Shield games, but Tim Ludeman is behind the stumps for the Renegades and he is happy to be an outfielder.
"Some of the boys said I looked fast, but I think that's just because I'm small and I have little strides," Harper said.
He felt his short stature also played a role when Harper was run out after a mid-pitch mixup.
"I thought it (the ball) went a bit further and then my small, little arms tried to get a nice slide in and I didn't quite make it," he said.
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