The Perth Scorchers beat the Melbourne Stars convincingly by six wickets and 17 balls in hand. Jhye Richardson’s three-fer on return restricted the Stars to 146 before Cooper Connolly’s 51-ball 64 propelled the Scorchers past the finishing line at the Optus Stadium, Perth in the tournament opener.
Eyeing to lit up the Big Bash league curtain raiser, the Melbourne Stars squared off against the defending champions Perth Scorchers at the Optus Stadium, Perth. The visitors’ ploy to bat first didn’t reap rewards as Jhye Richardson removed Joe Clarke and Sam Harper after an opening maiden over from Jason Behrendorff. Marcus Stoinis soaked in pressure whole batting at No. 4 but fell short of partners. Eventually, the Hulk was runout as well with the Stars at 68/4 in twelve overs. With Hilton Cartwright departing in the next over, Beau Webster and Tom Curran struck a few lusty blows, consolidating a 44-run sixth wicket stand before Richardson nicked off Webster in the 17th over. Lance Morris and Behrendorff extracted three wickets in the last couple of overs with the Stars concluding at 146/9 in 20 overs.
Finn Allen and Keaton Jennings failed to offer a good start as Adam Milne and Peter Siddle were scintillating with the new ball. However, Cooper Connolly tried to steady the innings but Matthew Hurst failed to assist him, falling for single digits. Following a 30-run mandatory powerplay, Connolly teed off the opposition bowlers in the middle overs, racing quickly to his maiden BBL half-century. Ashton Turner’s second-fiddle helped the duo stitch a 68-run partnership that set up for Nick Hobson’s cameos. The defending champs were already at 125/4 by the 15th over before they gathered 25 runs in the next 13 balls to seal the deal.
