Written preview BBL6 Semi Final 1 - Perth Scorchers v Melbourne Stars
Semi Final 1 - Perth Scorchers (1st) v Melbourne Stars (4th) - The WACA
Preview - The Perth Scorchers are back in familiar territory hosting another Home Semi-Final against the Melbourne Stars at a sold out WACA. The Scorchers have a remarkable record in BBL cricket having qualified for all six finals series, and being the only franchise to have two BBL titles to their name. The Scorchers secured that home semi-final courtesy of a thumping 7-wicket victory over the Hurricanes in their final preliminary game. The Stars are coming into this game undermanned and out of sorts, having lost their final two preliminary games to slide into 4th place. The Stars could have locked up a home semi-final with a victory over the Heat or Sixers at home, however poor batting displays sealed their fate. Both these sides have plenty of history, with the Stars also qualifying for all six finals series in BBL cricket, however, unlike the Scorchers, they are yet to win a title. The sides have traded wins in the Semi-Finals with the Scorchers beating the Stars in 2014/15 at The WACA, while last season the Stars ran out comfortable winners by 7 wickets to advance to their first final. When the sides met this year in Perth, the Stars played their best game of BBL6 winning by 7 wickets courtesy of an outstanding bowling display.
Squad Changes - The Scorchers name an unchanged 13 player squad from the one that dismantled the Hurricanes. While they have not been able to call upon the likes of Joel Paris, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and James Muirhead through injury, the Scorchers remain a side full of depth and quality with both their batting and their bowling line ups. Mitchell Marsh is the only top line player out of the side through injury, however Adam Voges' recent return gives the Scorchers some quality at Number 4. The Stars make two change to their 13-player squad with Marcus Stoinis and Dan Worrall coming in for Sam Harper and Cameron Gannon. Stoinis is back from Australian ODI duty and played an outstanding innings in the Stars last trip to Perth, belting 40 n/o from 24 balls. The Stars are decimated a bit through Australian ODI duty, missing big guns Maxwell, Faulkner, Handscomb and Zampa, which could prove a massive handicap tonight.
Perth Scorchers Scouting Report - The Scorchers made a bit of a change to their top order in Hobart with Sam Whiteman promoted back up to opener, with Shaun Marsh sliding to Number 3. I didn't mind the change so much as Whiteman had done a good job earlier in BBL6 up the order and gives the Scorchers a bit more of an explosive player at the top. Marsh responded really well to the change by belting 59 n/o from 34 balls in what was an emphatic return to form. Michael Klinger has been the Scorchers most prolific player with 256 runs at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 120. Ian Bell has gone off the boil of late but I think he is a massive player in this game if the Scorchers want to post a big total against a quality Stars' bowling outfit.
The Scorchers' bowling and fielding remains close to the best unit in the competition, consistently reducing sides to moderate totals. They do not have any bowler who has taken over 10 wickets, showing that this is a side that can share the load and not rely on one bowler to do all the damage. In Andrew Tye and Mitchell Johnson they have two high quality, but very different types of fast bowling weapons. Johnson has really hit his straps in his past couple of games and now has 9 wickets at an average of 20, and is only going for 7.1 runs per over. Expect Johnson to open the bowling and really go hard at Kevin Pietersen perhaps with a few short balls early. Andrew Tye has very similar stats, with 9 wickets and with a similarly impressive economy rate of 7.08 run per over. He will rely more on his change-ups and yorkers and be crucial for the Scorchers at the death. Tim Bresnan, the experienced Englishman, has slotted straight in and performed well, while Ashton Agar appears to be finding his groove as the Scorchers Number 1 spinner.
Melbourne Stars Scouting Report - The Stars batting has been pretty underwhelming in BBL6 compared to previous vintages. At the minute so much depends on their Top 3 that if one or two of them fail, they are in real trouble. Robert Quiney has been in imperious form at the top of the order all season for the Stars. The uncomplicated left hander has really dominated attacks through the leg side on his way to 227 runs at an average of 37, and an explosive strike rate of 170. Luke Wright had been struggling up until the past couple of games, however has scored 60 n/o and 62 in the past two games and appears to be hitting his straps at just the right time of year. Kevin Pietersen has done really well again, with 263 runs at an average of 43, however it's the Stars' middle order which is a big concern. Outside of David Hussey it lacks quality and experience, and a key player in this game could be young all-rounder Marcus Stoinis. The Stars need someone at 5 or 6 that can continue their momentum, and Stoinis is good enough to do that job.
The Stars' bowling unit has been the most consistent and productive in the competition alongside their opponents the Scorchers. They had a poor finish against the Sixers, however that was a bit out of character. Michael Beer dominated the bowling Power Play in Perth when the sides clashed in the preliminary rounds and I'm sure he will be asked to do the same job again. Beer is far more vulnerable outside the Power Play, making him a fairly unique spinner. In Ben Hilfenhaus and Scott Boland the Stars have two experienced fast bowlers that have generally enjoyed bowling under pressure so far in BBL6. They have 26 wickets between them and are both in the Top 5 leading wicket takers in the competition. Young spinner Liam Bowe has done a pretty steady job filling in for Adam Zampa, however I am sure the Scorchers will target him early here and try to put him off his game.
Verdict - The Scorchers deserve to be favorites here being on their home deck and with the Stars decimated a bit. However, the Stars have some big game performers in the likes of Pietersen, Hussey and Wright and their fast bowlers, so I do not think this game will be one way traffic. I think Marcus Stoinis is a key player for this game as the Stars have really lacked production in their middle order, and if they can't get anything out of Stoinis and Hussey tonight I think they will be on their way out of the competition. The WACA generally has a little bit in it for the quicks, so expect some aggressive fast bowling early on and a short pitched attack with the shorter straight boundaries in Perth. The team batting first in this game, I think, will be looking for a score of around 170 if they want to go in at halftime confident of victory.
The Lurker - "I have tipped the Stars in every game this season, however I am jumping off their train tonight and hopping on the Scorchers' bandwagon. I'm taking a couple of High Bat/Bowler doubles in this big semi final. For the Scorchers I'm going Klinger into Bresnan, while for the Stars I like Pietersen into Boland."