Melbourne Stars rewrote their most unwanted piece of history as they beat the Perth Scorchers by 7 wickets to claim a place in their first BIG Final.
The Stars will now host Sydney Thunder on Sunday at the MCG thanks to a composed and brutal innings of 62 from 36 balls by Player of the Match Kevin Pietersen.
“It’s always nice to perform in big games,” Peietersen said. “Credit to the bowlers for setting it up. I think about the consequences, not the result. So I wouldn’t have really been impacted even if I was out first ball.I wanted to get runs tonight and was up for it.
“Super coach Fleming has done it again, hasn’t he? Was brought in to do a job and he’s done it. I love Melbourne. The crowds that we’ve got here is amazing. It’s my home in Australia, I’d love to see 80,000 fans on Sunday.”
Pietersen had been sledged when he came to the crease by Englishman David Willey. It seemed to wake him up.
“Someone came up with a few words, I was simply giving it back.”
At the end of the Scorchers 139 for seven the question was ‘have they got enough?’ The Scorchers had a history of defending mediocre totals, but after a slow start, Pietersen and Marcus Stoinis ensured the nerves were not too frayed.
Luke Wright (7) cracked David Willey straight to Adam Voges at cover as the Stars were only 13 for one after 3.5 overs and struggling to find their momentum.
But as Peitersen joined Stoinis in the middle with a tense MCG wondering whether their side was going to bottle another last four appearance, the two batsman accelerated.
The fifth over of the innings saw Jason Behrendorff concede 16 runs as Stoinis cracked through extra-cover for four and then Pietersen hit boundaries through cover and square leg before running a three as he mistimed one over the offisde. Stoinis hit Andrew Tye for three successive boundaries in the sixth over and the Stars ended the Powerplay on 46 for one and were back in the chase.
Voges turned to his spinners on a wicket that threatened to give them plenty of help. Brad Hogg had to wait until the third ball of the 12th over when his chinaman trapped Stoinis (44 from 41) leg before, who had never looked comfortable against his spin.
It seemed inevitable that Pietersen, a big game performer, would see his side home. He rocked back in the 13th and pulled Behrendorff behind square for four, he moved to off and flicked Willey over short fine-leg in a spectacular moment of brilliance and three balls later gave himself room and lofted him over long-on for his first six.
The required rate was only a run a ball with four overs to play as Pietersen reached fifty in 31 balls with a nudged Pietersen. The England international drove Joel Paris through point for four, smashed a 90 metre six over midwicket next ball and wasn’t going to leave anything to doubt. But then he tried a switch hit, was Yorked, bowled, but his work had been done.
Peter Hanscombe and Hussey saw the Stars home and the celebrations began.
Harris (1) top edged a pull to Quiney at mid-off and Michael Carberry (13) cut a thin edge to Handscombe behind the stumps as the impressive Dan Worrall (3-25) got two early breakthroughs. At the end of the Powerplay the Scorchers were 36 for two.
Voges hit the ground running with three boundaries as Gulbis’s first over went for 14 runs.
Michael Klinger hit the second ball of the 15th over from Ben Hilfenhaus for a straight six, but he was desperate to accelerate. His 45-ball 44 was crucial in steadying the ship, but he never really found his rhythm and finally succumbed to the leg-spin of Adam Zampa to the last ball of the 16th over as he attempted to clear Stoinis at long-on with a slog-sweep.
Stoinis then took the ball and Willey tried to launch him long and straight and only succeeded in lofting his first ball into the hands of David Hussey at mid-on.
Voges had played beautifully for his 52 from 40-balls, but launched a full toss that he could have hit anywhere straight to Hilfenhaus at long-on. Ashton Agar was bowled by Hilfenhaus, who was excellent with the Yorker at the death. Worrall followed suit and Yorked Andrew Tye for a duck.
The Stars bowlers had done their job. The spinners Zampa (1-22) and Michael Beer (1-22) were excellent with their variations in length and had found some turn. For the seamers there was bounce on off and the off ball was gripping on a sticky surface.
Pietersen and the Stars batsman did their job too and that semi-final jinx was finally lifted.
James Buttler
As the editor of Cricket Badger he is intent on building the website to give quality coverage of the domestic game around the world.
James was the full-time Media Manager at Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2010.
James is a published author and a writer/video contributor to many cricket publications.
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Melbourne Stars had earlier opted to field and the Perth Scorchers openers wandered to the crease chasing their third successive Big Bash title.