Perth Scorchers’ hopes of a home final have been dented severely after Melbourne Stars came up with a clinical performance to brush them aside. Stars, who are already out of contention for a top four finish, were ruthless with the ball as Scorchers were restricted to 124/9 in their 20 in the run chase of 158.
Batting first, Stars saw Sophia Dunkley give them a positive start by finding the boundary twice in the very first over before Maia Bouchier was sent packing cheaply in the next. However, Dunkley and Alice Capsey put on a century stand to put Scorchers in complete control. Capsey hit seven boundaries in her 43 whereas Dunkley went on to hammer a half-century.
But from 113/1, Stars suffered a stunning collapse and lost four wickets for the addition of just 14 runs. They never recovered from that setback and eventually had to settle for just 157. Eventually, that proved to be more than enough as the top three combined to score just 8 runs. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones stemmed the rot for a brief period before Capsey struck.
While Amy Jones continued to fight at one end, Scorchers continued to lose wickets with Sophie Day running through the lineup to finish with a four-wicket haul. Scorchers will now have to win their final game against table-toppers Adelaide Strikers and hope the Strikers lose again in their final game in order to have a chance at finishing top. Sydney Thunder is the only other team that can topple them.
Brief scores: Melbourne Stars Women 157/6 in 20 overs (Sophia Dunkley 73, Alice Capsey 43; Piepa Cleary 2/30) beat Perth Scorchers Women 124/9 in 20 overs (Amy Jones 42; Sophie Day 4/26) by 33 runs
