{"id":421884,"date":"2026-01-18T20:43:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T20:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/421884\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T20:43:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T20:43:01","slug":"big-bash-league-perth-scorchers-defy-batting-wobble-to-seal-top-spot-with-six-wicket-win-over-melbourne-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/421884\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Bash League: Perth Scorchers defy batting wobble to seal top spot with six-wicket win over Melbourne Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perth Scorchers have defied an early batting wobble to cruise to a six-wicket win over Melbourne Stars and secure top spot on the BBL ladder at a sold-out Optus Stadium.<\/p>\n

The Scorchers had all the momentum at the innings break after bowling the visitors out for just 130, but quickly found themselves in all sorts of bother in response at 3-26.<\/p>\n

With their place in Tuesday\u2019s Qualifier on the line, Finn Allen (69 from 39 balls) and Aaron Hardie (41 not out from 37 balls) delivered a brilliant 94-run third-wicket stand to all but see their side over the line.<\/p>\n

A fervent crowd of 48,608 packed in witness the winner-takes-first clash, which is the Scorchers\u2019 best in a non-finals game.<\/p>\n

Perth will now welcome either Hobart Hurricanes or Sydney Sixers to their home ground to a final, which will grant the winner direct passage and hosting rights to Sunday\u2019s decider.<\/p>\n

Jhye Richardson, who returned to form and claimed player of the match honours by bagging 4-16 from 3.1 overs, said having two home finals regardless of Tuesday\u2019s result \u201cis a real advantage for us\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeam\u2019s generally don\u2019t like travelling over here, it\u2019s a longer flight and we tend to play pretty well here in Perth,\u201d Richardson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it just gives us a bit of confidence in how we play our cricket here. We\u2019ve got really good plans on how to play here. The wicket was better again tonight, so if we can get something with a little bit of pace and bounce, I think it\u2019s a huge advantage for us, especially with eastern states teams coming over here.\u201d<\/p>\n

After he was on the right end of the bat flip for the first time since the season opener against the Sydney Sixers, Ashton Turner had no hesitation in choosing to bowl.<\/p>\n

And the Scorchers captain was rewarded with a superbly well-rounded effort from his bowlers, with only leg-spinner Luke Holt \u2014 who sent down just one over \u2014 going without a wicket.<\/p>\n

\"PerthCamera IconPerth Scorchers produced a superb all-round bowling effort. Credit: James Worsfold\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Richardson led the way, while Cooper Connolly (2-18 from three overs) and David Payne (2-30 from four overs) also claimed multiple wickets.<\/p>\n

After Connolly knocked over Tom Rogers and Joe Clarke in his first over and Richardson proved too quick for the competition\u2019s second-leading run-scorer Sam Harper to leave the Stars 3-15, Marcus Stoinis tried to lead a recovery.<\/p>\n

But the captain slicing Payne to Richardson at third man to depart for 55 from 39 balls triggered a late collapse of 4-17 as Payne and Richardson ran riot.<\/p>\n

Richardson said the game was as good as he had felt with the white ball since returning from surgery on his troublesome shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a process that\u2019s probably taken slightly longer than what I would\u2019ve liked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see the ball actually swinging again tonight is a real relief to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been tough. The performances I\u2019ve had haven\u2019t been up to my standard and I\u2019ve been a little bit disappointed with that, so to get a good one tonight, I\u2019m very happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitch Marsh laid down an early marker in the chase by driving Peter Siddle\u2019s first two deliveries through the covers to the boundary, which Finn Allen followed up on by depositing Tom Curran over his head into the crowd.<\/p>\n

But the introduction of Haris Rauf completely changed the complexion of the game in a flash, with the Pakistan speedster sending Marsh (12), Connolly (two) and Josh Inglis (one) on their way inside his first seven deliveries.<\/p>\n

\"HarisCamera IconHaris Rauf grabbed three wickets in a flash. Credit: James Worsfold\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

All three batters departed courtesy of skied slogs, the worst of which came from Inglis \u2014 who had not scored from his first seven deliveries \u2014 trying to relieve the building pressure.<\/p>\n

Despite the dire situation, Allen continued to take the game on, putting the pressure back on Rauf by unleashing a vicious pull shot which sailed into the crowd.<\/p>\n

As Hardie held up his end by being solid in defence and cashing in when scoring opportunities were made available, the New Zealander continued to clear the boundary, depositing Stoinis and Swepson into the crowd twice apiece.<\/p>\n

Allen twice offered tough catches in the covers \u2014 the first of which was shelled by diving substitute fielder Blake Macdonald on 23 before Stoinis put down a sizzling chance he offered on 36 \u2014 but played an otherwise faultless knock.<\/p>\n

When the game was all but won, Hardie offered an easy catching chance to Glenn Maxwell, only for the Stars gun somehow dropped to sum up their night, but he was able to cling onto a late chance to end Allen\u2019s innings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Perth Scorchers have defied an early batting wobble to cruise to a six-wicket win over Melbourne Stars and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,22249,740,60180,588,85],"class_list":["post-421884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-big-bash-league","tag-cricket","tag-perth-scorchers","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}