Brett Lee’s five-wicket haul helps Blues prevail in a Ryobi Cup nail-biter
Brett Lee claimed a five-wicket haul as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 prevailed in the nail-biting Ryobi One-Day Cup clash against Western Australia played at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth. Not even the bludgeoning 132-run
innings from Shaun Marsh could help the Warriors seal the match as the side lost two wickets in the final over, finishing just 7 runs short of the 259-run target.
The home side - with just 13 runs behind the competitive target, 11 balls and three wickets in hand and the fluent Shaun Marsh still at the crease - was pretty hopeful about victory. But the New South Wales’ attack had some other
plans in mind. The next ball saw the centurion Marsh leaving the crease after mistiming Stuart Clark to Nathan Hauritz. Australian pacer Brett Lee was called on by the Blues’ skipper to bowl the final over and the decision was well-rewarded by the bowler after
he sent Aaron Heal back completing his five-wicket haul before Moises Henriques’ throw broke Brett Dorey’s stumps to leave the Warriors seven runs short of their assigned target.
The start of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lee-c72382 after he was caught by O’Keefe in the seventh over for 16. The
next wicket of Warriors was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stuart-Clark-c2591, leaving the hosts 41 for 2 on the board.
Davis’ opening partner, Shaun Marsh then took the responsibility of leading the side from the front, sharing a 38-run partnership with Michael Swart, with the mass coming from the opener. In the 14th over, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Moises-Henriques-c2021
took Swart’s catch off his own delivery, sending him back to the pavilion for 13-ball 11. Swart’s dismissal took the Western Australia skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Voges-c925 to the crease to partner Marsh and the duo calmed the nerves of the side with their 45-run stand for the
4th wicket partnership. That became 124 for 4 when Lee struck back in the 25th over, having Voges caught by Nic Maddinson.
With 150 plus required at the halfway point, the Marsh brothers – Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh - took the hosts to 198 for 4 with more than eight overs to go. At that point, the Warriors started sniffing their third victory of the
season but the spinner Steven Smith - who was overlooked by Australian selectors from the final squad for the ongoing Ashes opener in favour of uncapped Xavier Doherty – broke Mitchell’s stumps. The next over, Lee struck twice to leave the hosts in trouble
at 202 for 7.
Shaun, however, pursued his own path, bringing up his century and then accelerating the Warriors towards the 260-run target before Clark struck the critical blow.
Earlier, the Blues, after deciding to bat first, were steered by Steven Smith’s half century well complemented by Hughes' 47 and Steve O’Keefe’s 44 towards the competitive 45 overs total of 259 for 9. Both http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aaron-Heal-c882
shared three wickets apiece while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mitchell-Marsh-c1974 finished with 2 for 44 from 7 overs.
With the 7-run victory, the Blues retain their third spot on the Ryobi One-Day Cup points table while both Lee and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, with 11 tournament wickets each, share the top spot on the wickets' chart.
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