Ainsworth castles Star duo to set up Scorchers' final-over win

Teenage speedster Chloe Ainsworth claimed the prized scalps of Meg Lanning and Annabel Sutherland to fire Perth Scorchers to a season-opening WBBL win over Melbourne Stars.

Set an under-par 123 to win after opting to bowl first at the WACA Ground in the final match of triple-header to start Weber WBBL|10, the Stars' chase was on the back foot from the outset after Ainsworth struck twice in the fifth over.

The 19-year-old first produced a glorious inswinger to bowl the dangerous Lanning for nine before repeating the feat three balls later to send the Stars' new full-time captain Sutherland on her way for a duck.

Fellow teenager Ines McKeon, 17, who has 16 T20 internationals for France already to her name, kept the visitors in the hunt with a 43-ball 50 on WBBL debut.

McKeon represented Australia's Under-19 side during a tri-series against England and Sri Lanka earlier this year and is the second youngest behind Phoebe Litchfield to hit a WBBL half-century.

But when she became the second of Alana King's three victims for the night, the chase stalled as the Stars lost their final four wickets for 14 runs and were bowled out for 109 in the final over.

The leg-spinner (3-20) completed the 13-run victory with her third wicket after Australia teammate Beth Mooney (31) earlier top-scorer for the Scorchers in their 8-122.

Only extras (19) and No.8 Kim Garth (10) reached double figures for the Stars in a dismal batting display.

"We don't really care how many runs we score, we know that we back our bowlers and fielders to get over the line and I think we showed that today," Ainsworth told broadcaster Fox Cricket following her player-of-the-match performance.

"We saw the ball seam a bit in the first innings, so my plan was to bowl a bit of wobble seam and get the ball moving off the pitch."

For the Stars, left-arm spinner Sophie Day was the pick of the bowlers with 3-21 from her four overs, which included a gem of an arm ball to remove Mooney.

The Stars are back in action against Sydney Sixers on Friday at North Sydney Oval, while the Scorchers take on their Melbourne rivals the Renegades at Junction Oval on Saturday.

Weber WBBL|10 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Sydney Thunder Women THU	9	6	2	0	1	0.294	0	13
2 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	9	6	3	0	0	0.307	0	12
3 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	9	6	3	0	0	0.276	0	12
4 Perth Scorchers Women SCO	9	4	4	1	0	-0.091	0	9
5 Hobart Hurricanes Women HUR	9	4	5	0	0	0.104	0	8
6 Sydney Sixers Women SIX	9	3	4	1	1	-0.367	0	8
7 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	9	3	6	0	0	-0.357	0	6
8 Melbourne Stars Women STA	9	2	7	0	0	-0.205	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points