WBBL round-up: Mack's best takes Strikers fourth, Scorchers spin King stuns Stars

Katie Mack's career-best marshaled Adelaide Strikers' chase as they got home with eight balls to spare to lift themselves above Sydney Sixers into fourth place.

Due to a scheduling quirk, Strikers have had games in hand leading into the back end of the group stage and have made them count over the last two days with wins over both Sydney teams. Despite losing Dane van Niekerk in the first over of the chase they had it under control almost throughout as Mack and Laura Wolvaardt added 79 then captain Tahlia McGrath hit an unbeaten 40 off 30 balls alongside Mack.

Sixers had suffered a powerplay stumbled after Ellyse Perry had made a promising start with a brisk 24. However, having taken Darcie Brown for a four and six she was then run out when Bridget Patterson made a good save at point. Next ball, Brown speared one through Ash Gardner, who had returned to form in recent games, and when Alyssa Healy pulled Brown to midwicket Sixers were 3 for 38.

They recovered through a stand of 84 in 12 overs between Nicola Bolton and Shafali Verma. The latter was dropped twice, both simple chances in the point area, on the way to her second fifty off the season - off 40 balls - and her first since moving into the middle order. Maitlan Brown helped finish the innings but in the end they were well short in good batting conditions.

Perth Scorchers produced another sizzling bowling display to smash Melbourne Stars at Karen Rolton Oval and vault into second spot on the WBBL table.

For the second time in successive matches Scorchers bowled first and kept their opposition to a total under 100 with Alana King, Sophie Devine and Heather Graham each taking two wickets before Devine and Beth Mooney produced a flawless chase to run down the target of 98 with 9.1 overs to spare. Mooney finished 57 not out from 38 balls while Devine was unbeaten on 35.

Stars won the toss and elected to bat but capitulated after Meg Lanning chopped on in the second over. Annabel Sutherland fell for a duck before King knocked over Maia Bouchier and Elyse Villani with two superb deliveries to leave Stars struggling at 4 for 24. The legspinner bowled Bouchier around her legs after she moved across her stumps to sweep behind square. King then produced one of the deliveries of the tournament to remove Villani. From wide of the crease, she delivered a leg break that drifted in, pitched on middle, and spun past the edge to clip the top of off leaving Villani mystified as to how her forward defence had been breached.

It was left to the Stars lower order to try and post a defendable total. Not for the first time in this WBBL Kim Garth shouldered the responsibility making 31 from 31 to help lift the total to 9 for 97.

It was nowhere near enough as the WBBL's best opening pair made light work of the chase clubbing 14 boundaries and a six to reach the target in 10.5 overs. Mooney made her third score of 50 plus for the tournament. Winning with 55 balls to spare made it the joint second-largest win chasing in WBBL history.