Scorchers capitalise on another Stars horror show

The Perth Scorchers kicked off the BBL|14 season with a comfortable six-wicket victory over the Melbourne Stars in Perth on Sunday night.

In front of a season-opening record crowd of 30,649 at Optus Stadium, the home side chased down the target of 147 just four wickets down in the 18th over to make it seven victories in a row over the Stars.

A new season brought with it plenty of hope for the Stars who have failed to finish above sixth in each of the last four campaigns.

But a new dawn felt ever so familiar for the men in green who were in trouble at 2/3 after Joe Clarke (0) and Sam Harper (1) were both dismissed cheaply following a runless first over.

It was tough to put on a defendable total from there, the Stars reaching 9/146 off the allotted 20 overs with new captain Marcus Stoinis and Tom Curran sharing the top score of 37.

The knock from Stoinis was full of drama, including his 100th BBL six, a broken bat and a remarkable run out by virtue of a pinpoint AJ Tye.

See it all below:

For the Scorchers, Man of the Match Jhye Richardson was damaging with the ball with 3/19 off four while Lance Morris (2/30), Jason Behrendorff (1/19), Ashton Agar (1/24) and Cooper Connolly (1/18) all contributed.

In response with the bat, the five-time champions found themselves in trouble early when openers Finn Allen (6) and Keaton Jennings (4) went cheaply.

However, Connolly was dominant in making 64 off 51 balls which included four fours and three sixes.

It was the 21-year-old’s first half century in the BBL.

Captain Ashton Turner made an unbeaten 37 off 27, combining with Connolly for a 68-run partnership, and Nick Hobson chipped in with 27 not out off 14 to guide the Scorchers home to 4/150 off 17.1 overs.

During the second innings, Melbourne's Perth product Hilton Cartwright jarred his neck when diving for a ball and was taken to hospital for scans.

Skipper Stoinis told reporters that the Stars have their fingers crossed that it is nothing too serious for the 32-year-old.

“He's very important to our team. He's the heartbeat of our team, but not only for us, with Western Australia,” Stoinis said.

“He's a very well respected guy. You don't expect those things to happen.

“It definitely put a dampener on the mood of the night. We ran there pretty quick just to see him. But there's nothing you can really do... just hope he's alright.”

Next up for the Stars is reigning champs the Brisbane Heat at the MCG on Wednesday night from 7:15pm AEDT, while the Scorchers will look to their December 21 clash with the Hobart Hurricanes at Bellerive.

The BBL|14 season continues on Monday night when the Sydney Sixers host the Melbourne Renegades. You can hear all the action live on SEN from 7pm AEDT.