Allen, Richardson help Scorchers top the table

Jhye Richardson spearheaded a slick attack before Finn Allen blasted a half-century under pressure as Perth Scorchers clinched the all-important top position on the BBL ladder in a result that means Melbourne Stars will be thrust into a knockout final.

There was much at stake in the penultimate match of the regular season with the teams fighting for first place and a double chance in the finals.

Amid a record regular season crowd in Perth of 48,608, Scorchers secured two home finals after Richardson claimed 4 for 16 to restrict Stars to a lowly 130 before Allen hit 69 off 39 balls having capitalised on two dropped chances.

Allen and Aaron Hardie shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 94 as Scorchers reached the target in the 17th over.

It was a relief for Scorchers, whose high-voltage batting-order has struggled this season on seaming surfaces at Optus Stadium. Scorchers face Hurricanes or Sixers in the Qualifier on Tuesday while Stars will finish third or fourth and play in the Knockout on January 21.

Mitchell Marsh whacked consecutive boundaries off seamer Peter Siddle to get Scorchers off to a rollicking start. But the game changed when speedster Haris Rauf claimed the wickets of Marsh and an out-of-form Cooper Connolly after entering the attack in the third over.

With the first ball of the fifth over, Rauf had Josh Inglis hitting straight up in the air as Scorchers slumped to 26 for 3.

Having watched on from the other end, Allen finally found himself on strike and made up for lost time by blasting a Rauf 146 kph short ball into the terraces. The game appeared in the balance but the key moment came when Allen on 23 hit to extra cover only for Blake Macdonald, the substitute fielder, to spill the ball.

Allen on 36 was also dropped by frustrated captain Marcus Stoinis at extra cover in a hot chance. Having clubbed a maiden BBL ton against Renegades just two days earlier, Allen reached his half-century off 30 balls before falling with victory in sight.

Earlier, the bat flip finally landed in Scorchers' favour after eight straight losses as captain Ashton Turner decided to bowl despite their overwhelming success batting first.

He was feeling vindicated when Stars crashed to 15 for 3 after two overs. Left-arm spinner Connolly once again showed his knack of snaring first over wickets when he claimed Tom Rogers and Joe Clarke with consecutive deliveries.

Connolly had started nervously and was twice dispatched to the fine-leg boundary by Rogers, who was left in disbelief when he could not pounce on another legside delivery and tamely top-edged behind the wicket.

Clarke was clean bowled for a golden duck by a pumped-up Connolly before Sam Harper, Stars' best batter this season, top-edged a pull to hand quick Richardson a wicket in the next over.

Stars were in disarray and appeared to be wilting amid the reverberations of the partisan Scorchers crowd. But Stoinis remained unruffled and counterattacked with a couple of thumping boundaries to ensure Stars reached 32 for 3 at the end of the four-over powerplay.

Scorchers were able to reel in Stars with the game going through a lull apart from when Campbell Kellaway received a blow to the body from Mahli Beardman, whose rapid pace has roughed up several batters this season.

Stoinis decided to ignite his team and launched legspinner Luke Holt down the ground for six, but Stars were again rocked when Kellaway nicked off to Hardie before the midpoint of the innings.

Stars' hopes of a competitive total rested on Stoinis and he seemed up for the task as he unfurled a gorgeous cover drive on his way to a half-century off 36 balls.

Stars resisted taking the power surge and it backfired when Stoinis fell in the 14th over to trigger a collapse. The stage had been set for Glenn Maxwell, who had been pushed down to No.7, to emerge from a form slump but his tough season continued when he skied very high in the air where Hardie judged well at fine leg.

Maxwell made just 3 off 8 balls - his fifth single digit score from seven innings - and Stars could not recover as their path to a first BBL title became more difficult.