James Pattinson made a stunning return from a long-term back injury as the Melbourne Renegades romped to their first win of the BBL season on Tuesday night.

Winless after their first two outings, the Renegades needed a victory against the Sydney Thunder at Etihad Stadium to boost their finals chances and they chased down a modest target of 115 in 13.5 overs with the loss of just two wickets to claim the points.

In his first major game since March, Pattinson ripped through the visitors’ top order in a fiery opening spell that yielded the wickets of Jacques Kallis, Mike Hussey and Andrew McDonald – all bowled – to finish with figures of 3-24 from four overs.

Aaron Finch did the damage with the bat as he plundered 48 runs from 37 balls to set his side on its way to the eight-wicket win.

The Thunder struggled to 3-38 from their first seven overs after Pattinson’s devastating opening salvo and crawled to the half-century mark off 66 balls before Chris Hartley and Hughes, who top-scored for the visitors with 40, combined for a 51-run partnership.

Finch made his intentions clear early with two fours off Pat Cummins’ first over and he combined with Matthew Wade for 36 runs in four overs before Wade went for 20.

Any slim hopes of an unlikely Thunder comeback were quickly dashed as Finch then put on a 58-run partnership with Callum Ferguson to set up the win.

Pattinson, 24, was part of the Australian Test side that secured a memorable 2-1 series win against South Africa in Cape Town in March, but has been sidelined with a debilitating back injury since.

“It’s obviously fantastic to be back here playing something that I love,” Pattinson told Channel 10.

“There are times when you’re sitting in the gym by yourself and it can be hard but I think I’m pretty lucky to be in the position I am and hopefully that I’ve done all the hard work, it can pay off now.”

Pattinson has been plagued by injuries over his career with this latest issue forcing him to significantly alter his bowling action as he looks to ease the wear and tear on his back.

He’s tried similar tactics in the past without success, but is hopeful of a better outcome this time around.

“I suppose last time I tried to do some changes with it I had three months out of the game and it probably wasn’t long enough,” he said.

“This time I’ve had six, seven months to try and improve that action.”