Scorchers scorched and thunderstruck

Thunderstruck. That's what the Perth Scorchers were on the fourth weekend of the WBBL, after the angry limes of the Sydney Thunder travelled across the Nullarbor to smash the home side twice from two outings.

A win is one thing, but this was something else: the Thunder nailed the biggest second-innings score of the tournament to nail an imposing chase, the day after a dominant fielding display bowled out Perth well short of a smaller target.

Put simply, the Scorchers never got near them.

West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor was central. She's hardly been noticed, but she's 30 runs from top-scoring for the tournament, with innings in hand over Charlotte Edwards and Beth Mooney. Her consistency has been the thing: 59*, 30, 35, 11, 43, 59 and 57, as well as chipping in to bowl 22 overs.

With Alex Blackwell at the helm for the Thunder, Taylor must be feeling liberated by being able to just play. There was a sense of calm when she faced down a target of 153, combining with Rachael Haynes for a 118-run opening partnership that wasn't broken until the 16th over. On the back of that effort, the Thunder surged to 2 for 156 with two balls to go on.

Taylor was also central to the Thunder's first score of 139, and dismissed Perth captain Nicole Bolton in the chase. Three run-outs showed the tension in the middle and the concentration the Thunder had mustered, and every one of their bowlers chipped in.

This might be the most underrated bowling attack in the comp, but it might also be the best, featuring two Australian internationals and two future Southern Stars. Seamer Rene Farrell was player of the match in defending a small target in England to clinch the Ashes with a game to spare, and off-spinner Erin Osborne is one of the most experienced players around. At the other end of their careers, are Lauren Cheatle and Nicola Carey.

Cheatle is a left-arm seam sensation who has just turned 17, has played in every Thunder game so far, and has never failed to take a wicket. The 22-year-old right-armer Carey has perhaps had the most consistent tournament of anyone: she's bowled her full allotment in every match so far, returning 1 for 16, 2 for 18, 0 for 18, 1 for 27, 1 for 20, 1 for 25 and 1 for 18, as well as nailing the winning runs in that big chase. Higher honours await.

The Scorchers bought trouble for themselves, when the Perth sun that gives them their name baked down at near 40 degrees the day after Boxing Day. They'd already beaten the Melbourne Stars the previous day, and did the same the next morning, but had to follow up with a match against the Thunder that afternoon and another on December 28. It was an overly demanding schedule for a professional team.

The best part about the weekend was the return to form of Charlotte Edwards. The England captain had struggled through the early stages of the competition, making 12, 8, 6 and 7 in her previous four games before this round. One she got going on the fourth weekend, her three successful innings yielded 210 runs for once dismissed, which has rocketed her to third on the table.

Her pair of 61s meant that Perth easily chased down the Stars' two scores of 102 and 127, aided by fellow opener Elyse Villani in one instance. Captain Nicole Bolton continued shifting herself around in the order, the Australian opener having surrendered her opening spot to Edwards now dropped to four to accommodate West Indies belter Deandra Dottin.

Dottin duly hit the first six of the weekend, but admitted to nerves as her four innings included a duck and a 0 not out. In the end the problem wasn't the batting, especially with Edwards' majestic 88 not out propelling Perth to what should have been a winning score. It was their bowlers' inability, Katherine Brunt aside, to contain the Thunder bats. After that weekend, Perth sat very much mid-table with 10 of their 14 games played.

When a team has a player on the books as premier as Meg Lanning it is easy to fall into the trap of over-reliance. That increasingly looks the tale of the Melbourne Stars, who in the space of three games have dropped from top of the ladder to sixth.

Halfway through their regular season fixtures, and now very much back in the pack at 4-3, the pressure is on the Stars to find alternatives to winning beyond than depending on their genius skipper.

Their unbeaten run of four wins at the start of the tournament corresponded with Lanning contributions of 90, 75 not out, 58 and 37 not out. In a word: dominance. Her last three hands, in losing efforts, would be satisfactory for normal players, but relative fails by Lanning standards: 20, 27 and 19.

The problem is highlighted when looking down the Stars' depth chart. Only one other player - opener Katie Mack - has scored more than 100 tournament runs, and none has passed 50 in any innings.

One who needs to step up is England's marquee all-rounder Natalie Sciver. She is playing her part consistently with the ball, but in the women's Ashes we saw how effective she can be with the bat; a modest 92 WBBL runs doesn't reflect her talent or poise.

Without some other players stepping up, the Stars will be more a mid-table tease than a legitimate contender.

We're enjoying a treat over the fifth weekend, with a carnival of five games in Hobart between the competition's three leading teams, the Hurricanes hosting the Heat and the Thunder.

The biggest stage in world cricket, the MCG, will be the venue for a pair of Melbourne derbies. The Renegades have been well off the pace so far, but the incentive to do damage to their cross-town rivals will ensure those contests are keenly fought.

The first will not only appear on TV, but has been moved to Channel Ten's main channel, signaling the early success of commercial television coverage for the WBBL.

In Adelaide, the round began with the Strikers defeat of the Scorchers on New Year's Eve, and continues with two games on New Year's Day.