Stars scorched by Perth bowlers after MackMooney record stand

Perth Scorchers are through to the Weber WBBL|11 Challenger after a record opening stand between Katie Mack and Beth Mooney followed by an inspired fightback with the ball secured a 28-run win over the Melbourne Stars.

Mack (52 off 39) and Mooney (45 off 38) put on 107 runs for the first wicket – a record in WBBL finals – to lay the foundation for the Scorchers in the Knockout at the WACA Ground, before English import Freya Kemp's 19-ball 35 helped propel the hosts to 5-173.

Meg Lanning (49 off 45) and Amy Jones (43 from 33) had the Stars on track to reel in the target, but a fightback led by Alana King (2-25), Chloe Ainsworth (1-24) and Lilly Mills (2-19) saw Melbourne lose 8-44 to be restricted to 9-145.

It means the Scorchers will now board a flight bound for Sydney on Wednesday morning, where they'll meet the Sixers for a spot in the WBBL|11 Final on Thursday night.

The fortunes of league-leading run scorer Lanning had been make-or-break for the Stars through the regular season – when she made 50-plus, they'd go on to win – so putting early pressure on the former Australia captain was critical for the Scorchers.

Ainsworth and Sophie Devine delivered just that, keeping Lanning to just six runs from the first 16 deliveries she faced, while that pressure also brought about the undoing of her opening partner Rhys McKenna, run out for seven.

The required run rate quickly nudged 10, but Jones arrived in the middle full of intent finding the boundary off the first legal delivery she faced.

Lanning then found her feet, as the pair took 18 off Amy Edgar's first, and a further 22 off fellow spinners King and Mills in the next two to reach 1-86 at the 10-over mark.

Needing 88 off 60, the Stars had all the momentum but that rapidly changed when King, playing with a broken pinky finger, had Jones playing and missing to be stumped in the 13th over, a door cracked open for the Scorchers.

It got wider when Annabel Sutherland (5) and Maia Bouchier (2) holed out in the space of three Mills deliveries, and Dani Gibson (8) was run out to leave the Stars 5-125 needing 48 from 25.

Lanning remained and with the pressure rising, took the Power Surge, but when she was caught behind from the first ball of Ainsworth's final over, the Stars had lost 5-25 and the game was all but gone.

Earlier, Devine won the bat flip and went against the grain in WBBL|11 by electing to bat first – only the sixth time in 40 games this tournament where a team had elected to set a target.

However, the game was played on a used pitch and the Scorchers had successfully chased twice at the WACA in the past 10 days, while the Stars – despite boasting one of the all-time great chasers in Meg Lanning in their XI – had yet to win a game batting second in WBBL|11.

Mack and Mooney set the tone, scoring 28 runs of the four-over Powerplay before escalating, as their 50-run partnership came up in the seventh over while the Stars searched for a breakthrough without Marizanne Kapp, who returned home at the start of the month for international duties, at their disposal.

Mack's own half-century – her second of the tournament – came off just 37 deliveries and at 0-81 at the midway mark of the innings, the Scorchers were well-poised for a hefty total.

McKenna finally broke the 107-run opening stand in the 13th over when Mack was tamely caught at midwicket for 52, and Mooney followed an over later for 45 as the Scorchers lost 2-2.

Devine was promoted to No.3 but struggled to get going, and when she was caught for one off five deliveries, Perth had suddenly lost 3-21.

Paige Scholfield (1) also departed cheaply, but Kemp kept up the momentum, making the most of two lives when she was twice put down by Georgia Prestwidge, hitting three fours and two sixes in a quickfire 35 off 19.

Maddy Darke, pushed down the order, then put the icing on a challenging total, hitting a trio of boundaries in her unbeaten 16 off 5.

WBBL|11 finals schedule

The Knockout: Perth Scorchers beat Melbourne Stars by 28 runs

The Challenger: Sydney Sixers v Perth Scorchers, North Sydney Oval (Thursday, December 11, 7.15pm AEDT)

The Final: Hobart Hurricanes v winner of The Challenger, Ninja Stadium (Saturday, December 13, 7.15pm AEDT)