Melbourne Stars allrounder Hilton Cartwright has been taken to hospital after suffering a scary neck injury while fielding during the Perth Scorchers' six-wicket win at Optus Stadium.
Jhye Richardson snared 3-19 as the Stars spluttered their way to 9-146 from their allotted overs in Sunday night's BBL season-opener in Perth.
In reply, the Scorchers reached the victory target with 17 balls to spare thanks largely to a career-best knock from Cooper Connolly (64 off 51 balls) and a cool head from captain Ashton Turner (37no off 27 balls).
There was injury drama during the Scorchers' chase when Cartwright had to be stretchered off the ground on a medi-cab following a fielding mishap.
Cartwright's neck snapped back painfully after he dived at full pace in an attempt to save a boundary.
The 32-year-old lay motionless on the turf after sliding to a stop, and medical staff carefully assessed him for almost five minutes before loading him onto the medi-cab.
"They've ruled out concussion and that sort of thing, but he's gone to hospital for some scans on his neck," Stars captain Marcus Stoinis said.
"They're a bit worried or precautionary about his neck, so fingers crossed he's alright.
"He's a heartbeat of our team, but not only us, with Western Australia and the Scorchers, he's a very well respected guy.
"It did definitely put a damper on the mood of the night.
"It's just hard to switch that off. We ran there pretty quick just to see him. But there's nothing you can really do.
"He's very important to our team. He's the heartbeat of that middle order, and in the field he sets the tone, so hopefully we don't miss him (for any games)."
Scorchers coach Adam Voges, who coaches Cartwright as part of the WA set-up, also expressed his concern.
"We certainly hope he's OK," Voges said.
"He's a West Australian and much loved. We wish him the best, and certainly hope it's positive news."
The 30,469 crowd was a record attendance for a BBL season-opener, eclipsing the 27,676 of BBL04.
Scorchers pace duo Richardson (3-19) and Jason Behrendorff (1-19) were near unplayable early as the Stars made a snail-paced start to the game.
The Stars were 2-3 from 3.2 overs after Joe Clarke (0 off 9 balls) and Sam Harper (1) fell to a rampant Richardson.
Behrendorff helped set up the scalps by returning figures of 0-2 across his first two overs, and the Stars' score of 2-13 after the four-over powerplay left them with a mountain to climb.
Stoinis (37 off 33 balls) had the scoreboard ticking over before he ran himself out through a direct hit from AJ Tye.
England allrounder Tom Curran (37 off 19) was the only other Stars batter to make an impact.
New Scorchers import Finn Allen ensured the run chase started with a bang, thumping fellow Kiwi Milne for a huge six first ball before being clean bowled on the next delivery.
Evergreen Peter Siddle snared his 100th BBL wicket when the 40-year-old sent Keaton Jennings packing, and it was 3-37 when Englishman Matty Hurst was caught.
Connolly struggled early in his innings but soon warmed to the task and combined with skipper Turner for a 68-run stand that turned the momentum Perth's way.
