Peter Handscomb smashed a century as Melbourne Stars beat Perth Scorchers in a high-scoring Big Bash League encounter at the MCG.
Stars had got off to a terrible start in their pursuit of Scorchers’ total of 179 for two as Luke Wright and Kevin Pietersen were dismissed off successive Yasir Arafat deliveries at the start of the Pakistani all-rounder’s first over. Skipper Cameron White then followed soon after to Andrew Tye to make it 28 for three in the sixth over.
23 year-old Handscomb, though, soon took over and masterminded the run chase. He dominated a fourth-wicket stand of 60 with Rob Quiney (19 off 16 balls) and soon passed 50 for the first time in his fledgling Twenty20 career. He went on to end on 103 off 64 balls as Stars won halfway through the 20th over. Handscomb received useful support towards the end from John Hastings, who bludgeoned three sixes during a six-ball 20, and Clint McKay (12 off 7 balls).
The Scorchers bowlers took a bit of a pounding with only Arafat doing himself justice to return figures of four for 27. Jason Behrendorff conceded almost nine runs per over from his wicket-less four-over allocation, while Tye and Ashton Agar went for more than 10 an over.
Earlier, Scorchers had chosen to bat and had watched their openers Shaun Marsh and Michael Klinger make hay. The pair put on 127 in 14 overs, with Marsh eventually removed by Michael Beer for 79 off 51 balls, having hit 11 boundaries. Klinger was run out off the final ball of the innings for 71 off 48 balls as skipper Adam Voges finished unbeaten on 27 off 21 balls.
The Stars bowlers were fairly uniform in their final bowling analyses, with all five of Beer, Jackson Bird, Hastings, McKay and Sam Boland conceding at least 30 runs from their four overs but none going for more than 40.
CURRENT STANDINGS
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Pts | Net RR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Strikers | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | +1.159 |
| Perth Scorchers | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | +0.705 |
| Melbourne Stars | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | +0.336 |
| Sydney Sixers | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -0.023 |
| Hobart Hurricanes | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.280 |
| Melbourne Renegades | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.331 |
| Sydney Thunder | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -0.561 |
| Brisbane Heat | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1.116 |
Daniel Grummitt
He worked for CricketWorld.com for almost three years, leading their county and domestic cricket coverage and contributing to a book about the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, before joining the hugely ambitious World Cricket Badger early in 2014.
The first Test that he remembers watching was on Channel 4 - back before the ECB marginalised potential future fans by selling the TV rights to Sky Sports - when England beat Pakistan by an innings and nine runs at Lord’s.
Besides a passion for domestic cricket, he also has an unexplainable interest in all things Zimbabwe cricket!
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