The Melbourne Stars were playing their second game in as little as 15 hours, and the Scorchers took full advantage to record a dominant 47-run victory
Match Report:
ScorecardScorchers win comfortably against fatigued Stars
Top order runs proved the difference as the Perth Scorchers took down a sluggish Melbourne Stars outfit in Tuesday afternoon's KFC BBL clash in Geelong.
In a GMHBA Stadium-record BBL total, the Scorchers made 3-196 batting first and were always in front throughout the chase, holding the Stars to 9-149.
Beau Webster did his best for the Stars, carving seven fours and two sixes in an impressive 63 at the top of the order.
The runs flowed instantly for Perth with opener Nick Hobson, playing his first BBL game since 2019, looking classy with 46 off 36 balls including six fours.
But the real fireworks came from Laurie Evans and Ashton Turner with Evans clubbing 69 off 46 balls and helping himself to five huge sixes, before captain Turner sped to an unbeaten 47 off just 26 balls.
Remarkably, the wrong batter took strike following the 10-over drinks break and it paid accidental dividends for the Scorchers, with Evans hitting two sixes in an over that went for 18 runs.
Fox Cricket commentators Mark Waugh and Brett Lee in particular were baffled by the incident and questioned the fairness of it throughout the call, but it was deemed that nothing could be done about it and an honest mistake by all parties.
While it mattered little in the end, it provided a huge lift for the Scorchers, who took 117 off the second 10 overs.
All Stars bowlers lacked impact, with only Haris Rauf (2-38) taking multiple wickets.
Disaster struck almost immediately in Melbourne's chase as Matthew Kelly knocked over Nick Larkin with his first ball, but Webster and Joe Burns steadied things up and were 1-57 after seven.
As they looked to even the contest, Kelly drew a top-edge from Burns and dismissed him caught and bowled for 20.
Plenty fell to returning star Glenn Maxwell, but he sliced one from Peter Hatzoglou and went for five, Melbourne 3-69 at halfway,
Webster brought up his 50 in 38 balls but the required run-rate crept up above 14 runs an over, and he holed out deep on the off side for 63 with his wicket signalling the end of the Stars' resistance.
The red-hot Joe Clarke, who came in off the back of four straight 50s, batted down the order citing fatigue but only made 17.
Kelly finished with the impressive figures of 4-25, the best for the Scorchers in BBL|11 so far.
They remain on top of the ladder with two regular season matches to go, while the Stars face an up-hill battle to re-enter the top five given their hectic schedule to come.