The Perth Scorchers are a win away from the WBBL final after eliminating the Melbourne Stars
There will be no fairytale WBBL finals campaign for the Melbourne Stars after they were crashed out of the post-season on Tuesday night.
The dream run unravelled quickly.
The Melbourne Stars were on track to record a historic WBBL finals victory over the Perth Scorchers on Tuesday night when their run chase crashed to a halt.
In just their second finals campaign, the Stars seemingly punched the Scorchers a golden ticket to the challenger against the Sydney Sixers with a poor fielding effort.
The Scorchers were off to a strong start through openers Katie Mack and Beth Mooney but their score was escorted to 5-173 by the Stars’ shaky fielding.
There were a handful of fumbled chances by the Stars if misreading skied balls in the deep are to be included alongside dropped catches.
The Stars needed to rewrite WBBL finals history by chasing a target over 164 but it was a task world class batters Meg Lanning and Amy Jones were up for.
The pair had put on 87 off 60 balls and powered the Stars into a commanding position at the halfway point of the second innings.
But Jones’ dismissal opened the door for the Scorchers and the Stars’ season swiftly sunk.
Jones (43 off 33 balls) was the first of three wickets in the space of 11 balls and five for the addition of just 25 runs – all but ending the Stars’ season.
Lanning (49) continued her brilliant season but the required run rate eventually grew too tall.
The Stars, which lost their final four games of the season, eventually fell 28 runs short of the Scorchers.
The Scorchers now face the Sixers on Thursday for a place against the Hobart Hurricanes in the final.
“It was a bit up and down, I think there was probably some times I thought (the Stars) were going to run away with it,” Mack told Fox Cricket post game.
“I think that’s always a run chase in a high pressure situation, a couple of wickets and things can change very, very quickly.”
GOLDEN GLOVES
The wicketkeepers in Australian cricket are setting a high standard this week.
Perth Scorchers ace gloveman Beth Mooney played a key role in her side’s knockout final victory.
Mooney stumped the dangerous Amy Jones, caught the imperious Meg Lanning and safely completed the run out of Danielle Gibson.
The brilliant effort with the gloves followed match-shaping 45 off 38 balls in the first innings.
MAGICAL MACK
It was one of the shots of the WBBL season to date.
The Perth Scorchers got off to a flying start, courtesy of remarkable shots like the one Katie Mack played in the 10th over.
Mack, after a few attempts, played a perfect reverse sweep off spinner Sasha Moloney over backward point for four.
The veteran opener made sweet connection, landing the ball only a step inside the rope.
She tried to delight the WACA crowd with the same shot the very next ball but it snuck through everyone for a bye.
Originally published as The Perth Scorchers are a win away from the WBBL final after eliminating the Melbourne Stars
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