CL T20 Cricket: October 16 match reviews

Eagle Vs Somerset:

Eagles 133 for 5 (van wky 47, Bailey 29) beat Somerset 132 for 8 (Durston 57, Hildreth 31, de Villiers 3-17) by five wickets

Player of the match CJD de Villiers (Eagles)

Decent bowling, complemented by disciplined batting, scripted Diamond Eagles' five-wicket victory over Somerset, who kissed their semi-final hopes goodbye after losing the League B encounter of the Champions League, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, in Hyderabad, on Friday.

The Eagles bowlers, especially Cornelius de Villiers (4/17), did a brilliant job, allowing just one significant partnership in the Somerset innings and restricted the English outfit to a modest 132 for eight wickets. The same discipline was visible in their chase, as Morne van Wyk (47) and Ryan Bailey (29) guided them towards the victory mark and their teammates completed formalities with 1.2 overs to spare.

The tone was set after Justin Langer opted to bat. de Villiers, who sealed the Eagles' promotion in the one-over eliminator against Sussex, raced through two wickets in his first over. Somerset slumped to 52 for 5 in nine overs and relied on their club's record sixth-wicket partnership of 77 charged by Wes Durston, but a target of 133 proved easy for Eagles.

Eagles got off to an eventful start in pursuit of victory, with in-form Rilee Rossouw (13) in the thick of things. The attacking left-hander, who had slammed a half-century against Sussex, was clearly in a hurry today.

He came down the track to smash the first ball across the rope, while thrashing the fourth delivery into the sightscreen for a massive six, to make a clear statement of intent.

Morne van Wyk and Adrian McLaren (13) maintained the tempo, picking boundaries at will. Their stance yielded 30 quick runs before McLaren fell to Willoughby, having hit the bowler for a four off the previous delivery.

In keeping with the trend, just when things were looking picture-perfect for the Eagles, came the next setback, as captain Boeta Dippenaar (18) holed out to Wes Durston off Waller in the 12th over.

The situation merited caution and van Wyk sensibly retreated into a shell, leaving the job of scoring to Ryan Bailey (29). Both eventually fell in quick succession but, by then, the writing was on the wall for Somerset. Ryan McLaren and Alan Kruger completed the formalities.

Earlier, Durston (57 off 32 balls), who replaced Trescothick, and Hildreth (31), then steadied the ship with a crucial partnership that may not have resulted in an imposing total but at least gave their bowlers something to defend.


New South Wales Vs Trinidad and Tobago:

Trinidad and Tobago 171 for 6 (Pollard 54, Ramdin 23) New South Wales 170 for 4 (Hughes 83, Warner 63) by four wickets

Player of the match KA Pollard (Trinidad and Tobago)

Keiren Pollard hit a whirlwind 18-ball unbeaten 54 as Trinidad and Tobago beat New South Wales Blues by four wickets in a League B match and moved a step closer towards a semi-final spot in the inaugural Champions League T20 in Hyderabad on Friday.

Pollard struck five fours and as many sixes to single-handedly haul the Caribbean side from the claws of defeat and seal victory with nine balls to spare. Apart from Pollard, Captain Darren Ganga (32 off 26), Darren Bravo (27 off 24) and Denesh Ramdin (23 off 13) shone with the bat before being run-out. For the Australians, Brett Lee, Moises Henriques and Doug Bollinger claimed a wicket each.

Chasing an imposing 171 for victory, Trinidad & Tobago lost their way after an early burst from William Perkins. Perkins (16 off 13) showed early promise, hitting two boundaries and a six, but his over-aggression led to his downfall, caught by Nathan Hauritz off Lee.

Trinidad and Tobago dug a hole for themselves, losing two more quick wickets in the form of Lendl Simmons and danger-man Dwayne Bravo.

Simmons was caught in front of the wicket by Bollinger, while Bravo was held at fine-leg by Bollinger off Henriques. However, Ganga and Darren Bravo were in no mood to give up without a fight and put on 47 runs for the fifth wicket.

Earlier, Opting to bat, New South Wales got off to a rousing start as Warner and Hughes scored 24 runs in the first two overs. Both the left-handers were in a murderous mood from the word go as they clobbered Ravi Rampaul for three boundaries to pile up 14 runs in the opening over. Hughes played a destructive 64-ball 83-run innings while Warner hit a quickfire 63 off 41 balls as the duo raised 121 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for the big total.

Dwayne Bravo was Trinidad and Tobago's most successful bowler with figures of three for 31, while left-arm Chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed took one wicket, giving away 26 runs.

Sensing the ease with which the NSW openers were negotiating the pacers, Darren Ganga introduced his brother, Sherwin, into the attack in the third over and the off-spinner did justice to his skipper's call, giving away just 17 runs in his four overs. However, his good work was undone by Darren Bravo at the other end as Hughes struck him for two fours in the same over through midwicket to take NSW to 50 for no loss at the end of the Powerplay.

The Caribbean side's problems were compounded by their bowlers' inability to pick wickets as Hughes and Warner piled up 71 runs by the halfway mark of the innings. The Caribbean side finally got something to cheer about in the final over as Bravo scalped Moises Henriques (17 off 10) and Hughes with back-to-back deliveries and then Ben Rohrer with the final ball of the innings.


Author: Mona Gupta (New Delhi)

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