Airtel Champions League T20, Royal Challengers reach semis
On day 12 of the ongoing Airtel Champions League T20, South Australia and Royal Challengers Bangalore prevailed in their matches of the day. Group B leader, South Australia defeated listless Guyana by 15 runs at New Wanderers Stadium Johannesburg, while
Royal Challengers Bangalore made it through the semi-finals of the tournament by beating Lions by six wickets.
In the first match of the day, Callum Ferguson and Cameron Borgas made their mark after three early dismissals and took the side to a daunting total of 191 for 6 from their allotted 20 overs. Ferguson struck a 36 ball 55 while Borgas returned with 48 to
his name.
In the second match of the day and 18th of the league, Kohli and Kumble took the Royal Challengers Bangalore to the semis of the league. The leg-break bowler restricted Lions to a gettable total of 159 with his focused and accurate bowling while
Virat Kohli bludgeoned with the bat looting an unbeaten 49 off just 29 balls.
Unbeaten South Australia had already gained a spot in the semi-finals and ostensibly had a little to gain from the bottom placed Guyana in their final game of the qualifying round. But their middle order, which remained untested throughout the league, trained
its guns on the hittable length of the Guyana bowlers at New Wanderers Stadium.
With the top three batsmen, including skipper Michael Klinger and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Daniel-Harris-c1310, getting out cheaply, the CLT20 fans sniffed the first upset of the second CLT20. But Ferguson had some other ideas in his mind. Ferguson’s plans were well assisted by No. 5
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Cameron-Borgas-c1212, powering South Australia to their highest total of the 2010 Champions League T20 as the Redbacks sustained their unbeaten status in the league stage.
After recovering from turmoil in the batting, the Redbacks had another challenge waiting for them when they stepped in the ground after the mid-break. Managing the bowling attack without the fuming pace of the injured Shaun Tait, became a test for the side
that they hardly passed after the Guyana skipper, Ramnaresh Sarwan made the first half-century of the tournament for the Caribbean T20 champs. The final league match of South Australia was called “one of the biggest mismatches”, but the Blitz from the guns
of Sarwan gave the experts something to think about.
Guyana in the real sense troubled the Redbacks with the new ball and then kept on following much of the chase even though facing a daunting target. Pugnacious Sarwan shared threatening stands with Richard Ramdeen and Steven http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jacobs-c65213, as the underdogs asked
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Australia-c844’s attack plenty of questions. Guyana, who had started sniffing a victory with Sarwan on the crease, faced a lasting loss in the form of Barnwell, Foo and Christian’s dismissals as the Redbacks prevailed a 15-run victory in the end.
In the second fixture of the day, featuring Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lions, Virat Kohli and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anil-Kumble-c44737 took the side to the list of semi-finalists. Kumble restricted the Lions to a below par total conceding only 13 runs from 4 overs also picking
up Alviro Petersen's wicket, while Kohli led the run chase with his whirlwind 29-ball 49.
The time player of the match, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Robin-Uthappa-c2356 out on the last ball of 15th over, it seemed as if Kohli has reached another heartbreak of the tournament as the side required 43 runs of just 24 balls. But Kohli
himself became the saviour for Bangalore and pulled the side out of the hole he seemed to have dug them, lofting Ethan O'Reilly for six, six, and four in an over that went for 19 runs. Cameron White struck the winning shot on the final ball of the penultimate
over as the IPL team got a spot in the semis of CLT20.
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