Scorchers scorch Stars at The Furnace

Despite an unusually mild Boxing Day in Perth - just the 29°C -  the Scorchers turned up the heat at The Furnace to leave the Melbourne Stars scorched and the home side’s record at the WACA unblemished on Saturday. 

It was truly pressure cooker stuff; a stifling six-over period during the middle of the Melbourne Stars' batting innings saw them score just 14 runs off six overs as the bowlers reigned supreme in a low-scoring encounter.

After a flurry of pre-game excitement the Scorchers’ latest international signing, West Indian Deandra Dottin, showed she’s not only dangerous with bat in hand but can do some damage with the ball too, her first four-over spell in the Rebel Women’s Big Bash League producing two wickets, many chances and just 17 runs.

Known primarily for her explosive batting, Dottin’s right-arm fast deliveries, alongside those of England international Katherine Brunt, were the pick of the Scorchers bowlers as they restricted the Melbourne Stars to a below par total of 102. 

Veteran England captain Charlotte Edwards, who had yet to score a fifty in the tournament, followed up the tidy bowling display with the only real batting innings of note as she tenaciously drove and swept her way to 61 not out to guide the Scorchers home in the final over. 

"It’s inevitable with Twenty20 cricket that you’re going to have good days and bad days," said the England captain.

"I’ve not scored the runs that I’d have liked in the tournament so far but I’ve got a lot of experience on my side and I’ve worked really hard.

"It was only a matter of time. I’m pleased with how I hit it – I think I can still hit it better but it’s a contribution to a win which is obviously the most important thing."

The Stars opening batters struggled for runs from the start. Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars’ skipper Meg Lanning failed to get a run in the game’s first over, Brunt bowling line, length and venomous pace to return figures of 2-11 off her four overs. Despite the difficult start, Lanning and her opening partner Katie Mack negotiated their way to 50 without loss by the eighth over and looked to have built a platform for the Stars to accelerate.

Unfortunately for the Stars, it was an acceleration of wickets, not runs, which ensued.  Dottin was the culprit, claiming the Scorchers’ first scalp as a Katie Mack top edge somehow found its way back onto her stumps. A flurry of Stars wickets soon followed and Mack, who made 32, ended the innings as the Stars' top scorer.

"It’s not about how you start but how you finish this tournament," said Edwards. "We’ve been nicely going along and we are getting better most games as we go. It was nice to introduce Deandra into the side and get her off to a winning start.

"I said to the girls who didn’t really know her very well – I said she’s going to be as dangerous with the ball as she is with the bat.

"Her in-swinging yorker and slower ball especially – I think she made people look quite stupid at times and I think she’s going to be a real threat with us.

"I think my Christmas dinner must have helped us both so I’m really chuffed with that!"

It's only the second time that Lanning has been dismissed for below 50 in the tournament, and on both occasions the Stars have succumbed to their only two losses. There’s a lot of firepower and talent further down their order - including internationals Mignon du Preez and Natalie Sciver - but this is yet to materialise, something the Stars will have to improve if they are going to challenge for the title.

South African captain du Preez, batting at number three, appeared timid and nervous in her first appearance since arriving in Australia. Possessor of a classy off-drive on a good day, the South African looked as though she wanted to play every ball to cow corner, but on each attempt failed to do so as she struggled to just 10 from 22 deliveries.  

"We dried up in the middle period and weren’t able to rotate the strike,” said the Stars’ all-rounder Natalie Sciver, who was also out in the middle with du Preez during the tricky middle overs.

"Credit to them they bowled well. Dottin bowled really well so we’ve got a few things to work on before tomorrow.

"We were just trying to keep it positive – keep a positive mindset, keep good shapes and hit the gaps but unfortunately we didn’t hit them enough today."

When du Preez eventually departed in the 16^th over, the Stars were struggling on 3-79. It was a sharp turnaround from 50 without loss to a final total of 6-102 and the lack of any one player batting through proved the difference between the two sides.

When you’ve not many runs on the board and little room to manoeuvre, a captain can be forced into moments of madness or ingenuity - judged accordingly only once the match is done. Lanning, so calm under pressure in the tournament so far, opted for a silly mid-wicket to try and unnerve Edwards, but the move proved futile.

Edwards, determined to improve on her early-tournament form, was clinical in her strokeplay and intelligent in her shot selection. The sweep – long a staple of the Edwards school of batting – was played to great effect as Lanning’s fine leg proved to be too wide to prevent her onslaught of boundaries – eight in total.

The Stars bowlers did what they could to unsettle the Scorchers’ run-chase as three wickets in as many overs saw Elyse Villani, Deandra Dottin and Nicole Bolton depart in quick succession. However the visitors could not inflict on the Scorchers what they had earlier done to them, as the cool head of Edwards prevailed.

"It was very calculated from Lottie," said Sciver, who was the pick of the Stars bowlers with 2-16 off four.

"I thought that she batted really well to see them through. That’s something we didn’t really have in our innings – we didn’t really have a set batter go through, which is a shame. It was a tough loss."

The Scorchers, having entered the match with three wins and three losses, will be looking for a repeat performance tomorrow when they take on the Stars once again at the WACA, starting at 10am AWST.