Published: Sep 30, 2014, 06:04 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 30, 2014, 06:08 PM (IST)
By Sameer Jha
Sep 30, 2014
Before the start of the match, Lahore Lions were aware of the task at hand. They needed to win by 46 runs, and they made an extremely bad start towards achieving it. Nasir Jamshed tried to score too much, too quickly and fell in just the third ball of the innings to Joel Paris. Rain interrupted play right after the dismissal, and both teams got some more time to discuss and strategize about what they were going to do in the match.
It’ll be interesting to find out just what was discussed within the Lions setup, as when they returned to the crease, Scorchers took two more wickets leaving the Pakistan T20 champions at just 2 for 3. Both Umar Siddiq and Mohammad Hafeez failed to judge the ball, and found their stumps rattled by some fiery Australian pace. Fans and people who want Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to qualify for the semis would have definitely
Wahab Riaz was sent after Siddiq’s dismissal to make use of the power-play overs, and it turned out to be a bad move as he fell without being able to open his account. Umar Akmal came in at No 5 and started off well. He hit two consecutive fours to Yasir Arafat and combined with Saad Nasim to absorb the pressure being inflicted by the Scorchers. However, his resistance didn’t last too long, as he was dismissed just before the 10th over was about to end. Saad Nasim, who had led Lions to a sensational victory in the finals of their domestic T20 championship, kept his cool and scored patiently to help his side avoid embarrassment.
Mitchell Marsh, who was the stand-in captain for Perth Scorchers, once again showed just why he can be a great all-rounder for Australia in the coming years. After hitting two consecutive sixes in the last two balls off Robbie Frylinck to steal a sensational win against Dolphins, Marsh showed the kind of potential he had with the ball. Unfortunately, he had to walk off the field after the seventh over, due to an injury caused while fielding.
Lions will need a miraculous performance from their bowlers to win the match and more than a miraculous performance to be able to restrict Perth to 78 which is what they need to do if they have to make it to the semi-finals.
Brief scores:
Lahore Lions 124 for 6 in 20 overs (Saad Nasim 69*, Umar Akmal 26; Joel Paris 3 for 22) vs Perth Scorchers
Complete coverage of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 here
