Published: Sep 30, 2014, 07:43 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 01, 2014, 12:07 AM (IST)
By Sameer Jha
Sep 30, 2014
Lahore Lions bowled with a lot of heart, but their effort was in vain as a lovely half-century from Mitchell Marsh saw them being eliminated from the Champions League Twenty 20 (2014). Lions almost pulled off a heist, restricting Scorchers to 34 for six at one point. However, captain Mitchell Marsh and Brad Hogg ran water over their plans and helped their team reach the target with an over to spare.
Lahore Lions, whose performance with the bat was extemely disappointing, roared majestically with the ball at the start. Mohammad Hafeez took the wicket of Craig Simmons, which was lucky as replays suggested the batsman was not out. In the next ball, Hafeez had almost dismissed Sam Whiteman in a similar fashon, but umpire Rod Tucker gave it not out as his field of vision was blocked by the bowler. Curiously, he didn’t refer it to the third umpire too who could have made a better decision.
Thankfully for the Lions, Whiteman didn’t last too long and fell in the next over to 35-year-old Aizaz Cheema. Cameron Brancroft then hit a couple of boundaries to help his team recover, but the recovery was short-lived. The fifth over from Mustafa Iqbal saw both Ashton Turner and Cameron Brancroft being dismissed, charging up the Lions set-up.
Perth Scorchers sinked further deep into trouble and were 62 for seven at one point. Mitchell Marsh was the only batsman firing for them, and his boundaries would have felt like hot coals on the hearts of the Lahore Lions’ supporters. He combined with Brad Hogg, and helped his team get past the 78-run mark and then the 124-run mark to help his team clinch victory. Marsh also took two wickets early on, making another case for inclusion in the Australia’s ICC World Cup 2015 squad.
Earlier, Lahore Lions batted really badly and lost quick wickets at the top. They were reeling at 11 for 4, at one point when Umar Akmal and Saad Nasim combined to help the Lions recover. Akmal fell after scoring 26, but Nasim continued till the end, and scored 69 to help his side set a target of 125.
Brief scores:
Lahore Lions 124 for 6 in 20 overs (Saad Nasim 69*, Umar Akmal 26; Joel Paris 3 for 22) lost to Perth Scorchers 130 for 7 in 19 overs (Mitchell Marsh 63*, Brad Hogg 28*; Mohammad Hafeez 2 for 8) by 3 wickets.
Complete coverage of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 here
