A fine all-round display from Mitch Marsh led Perth Scorchers to the Big Bash League final after an 11-run victory over the Melbourne Stars at the WACA ground.
Marsh hit 41 off 22 balls to give the host team to 3 for 174 and then took 2 for 17 and two catches as the Stars failed to chase it down.
But the Stars were in good shape after cruising to 2 for 88 after 10 overs before Perth Scorchers paceman Ben Edmondson bowled the over of his life
In a double-wicket maiden, Edmondson snared the key scalps of Luke Wright (33 off 25) and David Hussey (golden duck) in consecutive balls, dramatically swinging the match Perth's way.
Edmondson (2 for 32 off four overs) failed to snare the hat-trick, but the damage was already done as the Stars limped to 8 for 163 in reply to the Scorchers' 3 for 174.
"That over really did change the game and changed the momentum of the game," Marsh said of Edmondson's double-wicket maiden.
"It's a credit to him. He's been great for us all tournament."
Although it was Edmondson's over that changed the match, former Test spinner Brad Hogg was also influential, taking 2 for 17 off his four overs to the delight of the 15,225 fans on hand.
Perth's triumph secures them a home Big Bash final at the WACA Ground next Saturday, where it will meet the winner of Sunday's clash between Hobart and Sydney Sixers.
But perhaps more importantly, the Scorchers' semi-final win earned them automatic qualifications into this year's lucrative Champions League.
The Stars were made to pay for some elementary errors in the field as Scorchers opener Herschelle Gibbs (71 off 46 balls), Paul Collingwood (31 off 25) and Marcus North (23) helped set up the challenging total.
Gibbs was on 19 when fieldsman Luke Wright, with an age of time to prepare, dropped a skied chance on the boundary.
North was dropped on 3, although James Faulkner could hardly be blamed for putting down the tough return catch low to the ground.
And Collingwood received a massive reprieve on 2 when he charged and missed a Shane Warne delivery, only for wicketkeeper Matthew Wade to fumble what should have been the easiest of stumpings.
Warne (0 for 29 off four overs) was the best of Melbourne's bowlers and did his best to rein in the Scorchers after their hot start.
Faulkner (38 off 27) top-scored in the Stars' innings and Wade (37 off 17) unleashed some brutal strokes at the end, but the visitors failed to recover after Edmondson's 11th over heroics.
Stars skipper Cameron White rued his side's inability to execute their skills in key moments of the game.
"I think across the course of the game there were little moments that we didn't get right, and that's why we finished 11 runs short," White said.
"Like me they (my team-mates) will be thinking about things across the course of the game they didn't get right and disappointment about not winning.
"But you can't sit around and cry about it, you just move on."
AAP
Tags: twenty20, cricket, sport, perth-6000, wa, australia, melbourne-3000, vic First posted January 21, 2012 23:57:50
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