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Dunkley, Capsey and Day help Stars deny Scorchers

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Dunkley, Capsey and Day help Stars deny Scorchers


Melbourne Stars 157 for 6 (Dunkley 73, Capsey 43, Cleary 2-30) beat Perth Scorchers 124 for 9 (Jones 42, day 4-26) by 33 runs

Sophia Dunkley smashed a half-century before the disciplined Melbourne Stars attack bowled superbly on the WACA pitch to dent the Perth Scorchers’ hopes of a top-two finish in the WBBL.

Chasing what looked to be a modest total of 158, Scorchers’ strong top order crashed to 19 for 3 with openers Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine unusually failing.

Star seamers Kim Garth and Annabel Sutherland conjured swing with the new ball on a surface that looked juicier under the lights.

The Scorchers had to rely on England star Nat Sciver-Brunt to lead them back into the competition. There was an extra touch after Scorchers’ controversial signing of Sciver-Brunt was unavailable in the overseas draft, where he would have been a retention pick for Stars.

Sciver-Brunt, who had scored just 64 runs in his last four innings, played several expansive knocks to lift the spirits of the Scorchers faithful. But she was unable to continue after being stumped on 24 after failing to hit a missed delivery from Alice Capsey.

They were always on the back foot from there despite the efforts of Amy Jones who made 42 but it wasn’t enough as Scorchers lost their second match in a row.

Left-arm spinner Sophie Day tore through Scorchers’ lower order to finish with 4 for 26 and complete Stars’ surprise 33-run victory.

Sophie Day led the Stars bowling charge with a four for

Sophie Day led the Stars bowling charge with a four for•fake images

One game behind league leaders Adelaide Strikers, the Scorchers are clinging tenuously to second place as the fight for finals positioning intensifies.

Even without their captain Meg Lanning, who was still out, the Stars’ hopes in the final were already over, but they put in a formidable effort.

Stand-in captain Sutherland elected to bat in oppressive conditions with temperatures hovering around 36 degrees when the game began.

Initially, the Stars had to fend off new ball deliveries from quick Chloe Ainsworth, who bowled opener Maia Bouchier in the second over. But aside from Ainsworth’s menacing swing, Stars were comfortable with Dunkley and Capsey taking control.

Dunkley in particular decided to go the aerial route, especially against the large number of Scorchers spinners who were receiving no help from the benign surface.

Scorchers captain Devine turned to Sciver-Brunt, who pitched for the first time this season in the Scorchers’ previous game against Sydney Thunder. He bowled a tight, long drive but Dunkley was in an aggressive mood as Stars chased a big total in the middle of the innings.

Even Ainsworth couldn’t limit Dunkley as she returned to the attack and was smashed for six at long on as Scorchers looked to be going through the emotions.

Dunkley accelerated over half a century leaving Capsey in her wake. Capsey struggled to regain his previous pace and holed out too much to gift Sciver-Brunt his first wicket of the season.

It triggered a collapse with Dunkley falling on 15 before Tess Flintoff received the first ball bowled by seamer Piepa Cleary.

The few fans who braved the famous grass banks finally rose to their feet, although Cleary failed to score a hat-trick. The Stars fell behind but his attack defended the total brilliantly to inflict a costly loss on the Scorchers.

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