Stars apply the squeeze to topple Scorchers

The match in a tweet: How did they win that?! Super Stars extend their lead on top of the table with a brilliant fighting win at the ‘G #BBL09 

The Score: Melbourne Stars 6-141 (Cartwright 58*, Maxwell 25; Kelly 3-27) defeated Perth Scorchers 9-131 (Bancroft 32, Patterson 20; Maddinson 3-24) by 10 runs at the MCG

The Hero: In a Stars innings that never gained momentum, Hilton Cartwright at least gave the bowlers something to defend after carrying his bat for an unbeaten 58 from 56 deliveries. It wasn’t a free-flowing knock from the opener, but he found the boundary seven times as wickets consistently fell at the other end.

The Supporting Cast: Their total did not seem like it would be enough at the innings break – particularly with Haris Rauf having departed on international duties and Jackson Coleman out injured - but somehow the Stars found a way.  Daniel Worrall picked up the big wicket of Josh Inglis (12) in the third over and finished his three overs with 1-16, and Sandeep Lamichhane (1-29) struck to remove the dangerous Liam Livingstone for 18. Nic Maddinson is usually better known for his prowess with the bat but this time he made an impact with the ball, striking three times to take the wind out of the Scorchers’ chase. His brilliant return catch dismissed Cameron Bancroft at a critical moment (more on that below) before he then had Tim David and Matthew Kelly both out stumped late in the chase to finish with 3-24 from his four overs.

The Consolation Act: Scorchers paceman Kelly got the better of the star-studded Stars bowling line-up, collecting 3-27 from his four overs. First, he removed the competition’s leading run-scorer Marcus Stoinis in the second over, before switching ends to have Nathan Coulter-Nile – who was promoted to No.3 – caught for seven in the fifth. And just when Glenn Maxwell (25) was starting to look threatening in the 14th over, an attempt at a ramp shot went awry, with the Stars skipper only managing to help it into the gloves of Inglis to hand Kelly a third.

The Big Moment: Stoinis was the big wicket for the Scorchers and the visitors could not have been more delighted when he was dismissed for just six in the second over, in a rare failure for the in-form Stars opener. Initially, there was confusion over whether his shot off the bowling of Kelly was a bump ball – indeed, most of the Perth fielders seemed to think it was, with few celebrating – and the soft signal was not out. But replays showed it was clearly a clean catch taken by Tim David at short extra cover. From the seven balls the BKT Golden Bat faced, his sole scoring shot was a six over the deep mid-wicket boundary.

The Catch: The pressure was mounting on the Scorchers in the 15th over as the run rate rose and Bancroft thought he had been delivered a gift when Maddinson offered up a juicy full toss. He smacked it hard straight back at Maddinson, who threw up his hands in an evasive action, only for the ball to somehow stick in his left hand. Maddinson could barely believe it, and nor could Bancroft as he was forced to depart for 32 from 44 deliveries.

The Stat: Cartwright was the 16th player to carry his bat in the BBL and his score was the lowest of the players to have done that.

The Wrist: Scorchers captain Mitch Marsh would have given the medical staff a small scare during the Stars innings, when he clutched at his right wrist after putting down a sharp chance off Cartwright, who was on 11 at the time. Marsh looked in a degree of pain as he massaged his wrist – the same one he broke during the Marsh Sheffield Shield late last year – but it certainly did not look to be troubling him when he struck a powerful drive to the boundary in Perth’s chase.

The Ladder: The Stars remain firmly in top spot with 20 points, well ahead of the second-ranked Sixers, who had 13 points to their name heading into tonight’s Sydney Smash. The Scorchers remain in fourth spot, one point behind third-ranked Adelaide.

The Next Stops: Both teams are back in action on Monday as a whirlwind end to the home-and-away season approaches. The Scorchers return home to Perth, where they will host the Sydney Thunder, while the Stars head north to Sydney, where they’ll meet the Sixers in a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash at the SCG.

Melbourne Stars XI: Marcus Stoinis, Hilton Cartwright, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell (c), Sebastian Gotch (wk), Nick Larkin, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Clint Hinchliffe, Daniel Worrall, Lance Morris, Sandeep Lamichhane.

Perth Scorchers XI: Liam Livingstone, Joshua Inglis (wk), Cameron Bancroft, Mitch Marsh (c), Kurtis Patterson, Cameron Green, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Jhye Richardson, Matthew Kelly Fawad Ahmed