Six Days After 109 All Out, the Stars Get Another Go at the Only Unbeaten Side in the League
The Perth Scorchers have won all three of their games, and one of those wins was a defence of 124 against the Melbourne Stars at Junction Oval. Sophie Devine took 4 for 19 that night and Alana King 3 for 17. Now the two sides meet again on a much smaller ground in North Sydney, and the Stars have had time to think about what went wrong.
Perth Scorchers — winning every kind of game
Three games, three wins, and each one different. Against the Renegades in Perth they chased 137 in 13.3 overs, Beth Mooney 58 not out off 40 and Sophie Devine 47 not out. Against the Stars they made only 124 for 9 and defended it, bowling the Stars out for 109 in 18.1 overs. And against the Thunder at Drummoyne on Thursday, Mooney's 80 off 55 and Freya Kemp's 30 off 10 took them to 183 for 3 before King's 4 for 35 closed it out by 17 runs.
The spine is Mooney at the top, Devine with bat and ball, and King's leg-spin through the middle. Chloe Ainsworth and Fatima Sana have been tidy with the new ball, and Lilly Mills and Amy Edgar fill the remaining overs. A possible XI, if they keep the winning side: Mack, Mooney (wk), Devine, Kemp, Hinkley, Piparo, Sana, Ainsworth, King, Mills, Edgar.
Melbourne Stars — runs at the top, questions after
The Stars started with 192 for 4 against the Hurricanes: Meg Lanning 71 off 52 and Annabel Sutherland 57 off 36, with Sutherland then taking 3 for 34. Since then it has been harder. They lost to the Strikers by 21 runs chasing 186, and against the Scorchers they were bowled out for 109, with Lanning's 41 the only score above 18.
The pattern in the two defeats is that once Lanning and Sutherland go, the middle order has struggled to keep the scoreboard moving. On the bowling side, Charlie Dean, Sophie Day and Maisy Gibson did their job well in that low-scoring loss to the Scorchers. The Stars also play the Sixers at Junction Oval on Friday, so this will be their second game in three days, and their XI may depend on how that one goes.
A likely XI, if they stay with the group that played the Scorchers: McKenna, Lanning, Jones (wk), Sutherland, Stalenberg, D Gibson, Dean, Prestwidge, Garth, M Gibson, Day.
The pitch at North Sydney Oval
This is the second game of a Sunday double-header, so the surface may have a little wear by the evening, and the spinners could get more grip than they did in the afternoon. That would suit King and Devine's slower balls for the Scorchers, and Dean and Day for the Stars. Even so, North Sydney Oval's short square boundaries mean anything over-pitched or short and wide tends to go a long way. A total of 160 to 170 might be a fair score batting first, but it rarely feels safe here.
The match-up that matters
Lanning against King. Lanning has made 71, 32 and 41 this season and has been the Stars' one constant. King has taken 4 for 35, 3 for 17 and 1 for 35, and her ability to change pace and land the googly has been the difference in two Scorchers wins. If Lanning gets through King's four overs without giving her a wicket, the Stars could finally post a total that tests Perth. If King gets her early, the Stars' middle order may again be batting under pressure.
On the other side, Mooney against Sutherland with the new ball. Mooney is in excellent touch; Sutherland's bounce and seam movement give her the best chance of getting Mooney early, before she settles.
The verdict
The Scorchers are unbeaten for a reason. They have a top three in form, the most effective leg-spinner in the competition so far, and they have already shown they can defend a modest total against this very side. The Stars have the batting to win any game when Lanning and Sutherland both fire, and a smaller ground should help them. But on current form the Scorchers would probably go in as slight favourites. If the Stars' middle order steps up, though, this could be much closer than Junction Oval was.
Perth Scorchers vs Melbourne Stars, WBBL 2026, North Sydney Oval, Sydney — Sunday, November 8, 5:10 PM AEDT / 11:40 AM IST. Unlock CricIntel Pro for T20 projections and match predictions.