BBL 5 Semi-final 2 Review: Pietersen powers Stars into the finals

Two-time BBL champions Perth Scorchers faced Melbourne Stars at the MCG with an aim to feature in their fifth consecutive finals of the Big Bash. However, the Stars led by Kevin Pietersen’s quickfire innings of 62 from 36 balls and Marcus Stoinis cautious knock of 44 off 41 balls denied Scorchers that chance. The game was lopsided to an extent with the home team dominating them for the major part of the contest.

The Stars needed to chase a target of 140 for a place in the finals by the Scorchers. The start was sluggish as Stoinis and Wright struggled to set themselves free against the disciplined bowling of Behrendorff and Willey. Willey quickly found the first breakthrough for Scorchers with the wicket of Wright. This early wicket brought Kevin Pietersen to crease, who started off with a bang, hitting two boundaries off the first three balls he faced. Stoinis also loosened up and struck three back to back fours off Andrew Tye’s bowling in the following over. The pair continued in the same fashion until Stoinis lost his wicket to Brad Hogg in the 12th over. Both shared a match-winning partnership of 69 runs. Pietersen continued in his aggressive style and took the Stars close to the target swiftly.

Unfortunately, he could not stay unbeaten after he was dismissed in the 17 over when only 12 runs were needed to finish the game. The remaining runs were easily knocked off  by David Hussey and Peter Handscomb to win the game by 7 wicket and 1.5 overs to spare.

Earlier, the Scorchers batted first after Melbourne Stars won the toss and opted to field. The start was ill-omened as they lost openers Marcus Harris was dismissed in the first over of the match by Daniel Worrall. In his third over and the fifth of the innings, Worrall struck again. One-down batsman Michael Carberry also could not bat for very long after he was tricked into edging a catch to wicket-keeper.

After the initial setbacks, Michael Klinger and Adam Voges led the recovery with a 79 run partnership. The duo scored at brisk pace, rotating the strike with single and double with occasional boundaries coming in short intervals. The painstaking stand was broken off the last ball of the 16th over when Adam Zampa got Klinger (44 from 45 balls) caught at wide long-on by Stoinis.

David Wiley was made to depart for a golden duck off the first ball of the next over by Stoinis. Aston Agar and Andrew Tye also were dismissed off successive overs. Cameron Bancroft played a short 8 balls 15 runs cameo to help the final score. The frequent fall of wickets during the final overs of the inning cost them dearly as they could only manage a functional score of 139/7 after 20 overs.

Perth Scorchers: 139/7 in 20 overs (Adam Voges 52; Daniel Worrall 3/25)

Melbourne Stars: 140/3 in 18.1 overs (Kevin Pietersen 62; David Willey 1/22)

Man of the Match: Kevin Pietersen