Scorchers prevail in tight match

The Perth Scorchers successfully defended 136 against the Melbourne Stars at the MCG, to win a match that had its fair share of dramatic moments by eight runs. The win puts Marcus North's Scorchers at No. 2 on the points table after the fourth round of games, while Shane Warne's Stars are languishing at second-to-last with just one win.

The Scorchers chose to bat and were steered through most of their innings by Herschelle Gibbs, who top scored with 69 off 48 balls - he fetched the Player of the Match award for this effort. When he was out in the 14th over, the scoreboard read 108 for 3, and the Scorchers seemed set for a weighty total. However, they failed to produce the typical late-overs surge, and a manic collapse in the final over of the innings - they lost five wickets in the over, three to run outs - meant they were left with a middling total to defend.

Their bowlers were up to the task, knocking over Cameron White, George Bailey and David Hussey cheaply, and not allowing Rob Quiney to score freely. With their top order not delivering, the Stars were left chasing around ten runs an over in the final few, and could not get home despite a fighting, unbeaten 53 off 43 balls from Matthew Wade.