The Melbourne Stars’ collapse from 0/93 to 7/112 and subsequent loss of the BBL title yesterday is up there with some of the biggest finals capitulations of recent memory.
With Ben Dunk and Marcus Stoinis cruising, things appeared to be in the bag for the Stars before losing 7/19 and handing the Renegades their maiden BBL title.
How does this compare to other sporting collapses in finals? Here’s some of the best of recent memory.
The Golden State Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead in 2016
With the Warriors 3-1 up over Cleveland in the 2016 NBA Finals, it seemed simply a matter of time before they were crowned back-to-back champions.
No team has ever come back from 3-1 down in an NBA finals, but LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combining for 82 points dragged the Cavs over the line in game five.
This surprise win allowed the Cavs to play game six in Cleveland, where they ran away with a 14-point win, forcing a seventh match.
From there, they were able to upset the Warriors in Oakland for a second time, resulting in Cleveland’s first ever NBA championship.
The Atlanta Falcons leading the Patriots 28-3 in the Super Bowl
This is as unlikely as comebacks get and as bad a capitulation as you will ever see.
No team has ever won when more than 10 points down in the Super Bowl, let alone 25.
The Patriots faced a fourth down late in the third quarter down 25 in a game where the NFL was already preparing the confetti to celebrate an Atlanta victory.
From there, Tom Brady led five consecutive scoring drives to force the game into overtime, while the Falcons went into meltdown.
They won the toss and Brady did it again, scoring and claiming the most unlikely Super Bowl win ever.
AC Milan coughing up 3-0 Liverpool lead
AC Milan went into the half-time break of the 2005 UEFA Champions League final with a comfortable 3-0 lead over Liverpool.
Italian legend Paolo Maldini opened the scoring in the very first minute before Argentine ace Hernan Crespo netted twice late in the half.
Life in the dressing room in Istanbul would have been enjoyable for the Italian side but it soon came crashing down.
Steven Gerrard, Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alsono went bang, bang, bang in the space of six minutes to tie it up at 3-3, before the Reds went on to win 3-2 in the penalty shootout
Serginho missed the first spot-kick for Milan before Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek kept out efforts from Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko to hand the Merseysiders a famous win.
The Great White Shark makes a mess of Masters
An infamous ‘choke’ that a lot of Australian sports fans recall is that of Greg Norman in the 1996 US Masters.
Heading into the final round at Augusta, the Great White Shark led Nick Faldo by six strokes.
All Norman had to do was shoot even par.
The end result: a final round of 78 to Faldo’s 67 - coughing up a six-stroke lead to lose the Green Jacket by five in a remarkable collapse.