Sydney finish top of CLT20 Group B
by Jason Humphries 22 October 2012, 20:34
The Sydney Sixers secured first place in Group B as they saw off the Mumbai Indians by 12 runs in their Karbonn Smart Champions League Twenty20 match at Kingsmead in Durban on Monday.
Full Scorecard: Mumbai v Sydney
Sydney posted 136 for seven on a pitch which was providing tennis-ball bounce but Mumbai, who ended the tournament without a win, could only cobble together 124 for eight with Sydney’s seam attack holding the upper hand in the contest.
Speedster Pat Cummins finished with 2-16 while left-arm quick Mitchell Starc pitched in with 2-32 and medium-pacer Moises Henriques claimed 2-29.
The victory moved Sydney to 16 points, four ahead of the second-placed Lions while Mumbai end the tournament with three losses and a no-result from their four matches.
The match had looked in the balance as Sydney battled to score quickly on a pitch which did little to aid strokeplay, although Steve Smith played what proved to be a match-winning knock as he scored a run-a-ball 41.
Only four of Sydney’s batsmen reached double figures with paceman Munaf Patel serving up outstanding figures of 4-1-17-2 while quick Lasith Malinga pitched in with 2-36 and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh returned the economical figures of 1-22 off four overs.
Sydney won the toss and elected to bat and opener Michael Lumb played a few adventurous strokes before he chanced his arm once too often and was caught at deep midwicket off the bowling of Malinga for 28.
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Lumb’s dismissal heralded the start of a collapse as Sydney lost three wickets for the addition of just seven runs to sink to 40 for three in the sixth over.
Patel claimed two wickets in three balls when he had Peter Nevill (5) caught at mid-on before Brad Haddin (0) was caught at point.
Nic Maddinson and Smith then put on 36 runs for the fourth wicket with the left-handed Maddinson looking in sparkling form as he bashed his way to 27 off just 13 balls before he was run out at the keeper’s end by a direct hit from Malinga at short third man.
Sydney went into freefall again and Moises Henriques (0) faced just two balls before being trapped leg-before by a top spinner from Harbhajan as the Sixers slipped to 77 for five.
Steven O’Keefe (6) departed soon after but Smith continued to fight a lone battle until he was bowled by Malinga in the 18th over.
Nathan McCullum provided a late flurry of runs as he made his way to 20 not out off 12 balls.
Mumbai, the defending champions, were given a solid start to their run chase by Sachin Tendulkar (22) and Dwayne Smith (26) as the pair put on 52 runs for the first wicket off 8.2 overs.
But the match was turned on its head in the space of four deliveries from Henriques who had Smith caught at long-on before he bowled Tendulkar with a superb delivery that left the batsman off the pitch to peg back the off stump.
Mumbai slipped to 75 for three when Rohit Sharma (16) was run out at the non-striker’s end by a direct hit from bowler Cummins who collected the ball almost alongside the stumps at the keeper’s end.
Mumbai were faced with an ever-mounting run-rate and their chances of victory nose-dived when the big-hitting Kieron Pollard (4) and the in-form Dinesh Karthik (18) were dismissed in quick succession.
Mumbai’s innings then faded away in the face of Sydney’s pace attack despite a belligerent 22 not out off a mere nine balls from Harbhajan as he scored 20 runs off the last over of the innings, bowled by Starc.
SYDNEY SIXERS – Michael Lumb, Peter Nevill, Brad Haddin (capt, wk), Steve Smith, Moises Henriques, Nathan McCullum, Nic Maddinson, Steve O’Keefe, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood
MUMBAI INDIANS – Dwayne Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh (capt), Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha
