Defending champions Perth Scorchers have reached the Big Bash League final with an 18-run victory at home to Melbourne Stars.
The Scorchers, who will now face Sydney Sixers on Wednesday, hit 144-7 at the crease before bowling Melbourne out for 126.
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Shaun Marsh [35] and Michael Carberry [50] stood out with the bat for Perth, while Sam Whiteman (18) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (22) made solid contributions as part of the lower order.
John Hastings ended with bowling figures of 3-27 for the Stars, who also had Clint McKay, Scott Boland and Michael Beer among the wickets.
Melbourne got off to a strong start when it was their turn out in the middle thanks to positive knocks from Cameron White [13], Luke Wright [31] and Kevin Pietersen [31].
Despite 22 from Hastings, a middle-order collapse put the visitors under pressure as the overs started to disappear.
The tail then made just 12 runs between them before the dismissal of Jackson Bird for three brought an end to the encounter.
Andrew Tye [4-18] did most of the damage with the ball, while Jason Behrendorff, Coulter-Nile and Yasir Arafat also took wickets.
Jack Prescott
