Captain Simon Katich digged out a classy half century when it mattered most, while Stuart Clark scalped three prized wickets to guide New South Wales to a comprehensive 53-run victory over Diamond Eagles in a Group B match of the Champions League Twenty20 here today.
Ryan McLaren (unbeaten 40) and Adrian McLaren (11) were the only ones to register double figures for the Eagles as NSW restricted them to 91 for nine in the alloted 20 overs.
For NSW, Stuart Clark picked up three wickets, giving away 12 runs from his four overs, while Moises Henriques picked up two wickets.
Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz also made their presence felt in the wicket list, scalping a victim each.
Earlier, Katich scored 53 runs off 41 deliveries, while Moises Henriques (27 off 19) and Ben Rohfer (22 not out off 15) played cameos in the end to help NSW put up a modest 144 for six on the low and slow Feroz Shah Kotla wicket here.
Shadley van Schalkwyk was the pick of the bowlers for Eagles, picking up two wickets for 22 runs from his three overs.
A modest 145 runs required for victory, the Eagles batsmen made a mess of the chase, losing half of their side within first seven overs with the score at 24.
In-form Lee fired from his very first over and made opener Rilee Rossouw’s 20th birthday a forgettable one as he trapped the left-hander plumb in front of the wicket to give early jolt to the Eagles’ run chase.
Lee and company struck at regular intervals as Eagles’ batsmen found it hard to cope with a lethal NSW bowling attack.
To make matters worse for the South African side, Adrian McLaren, in search of a non-existent single, was caught short by Katich with a direct hit from mid-on.
The Kotla pitch seemed livelier in the second essay as New South Wales pacers extracted bounce at will.
Morne van Wyk was the next to depart, caught inches off the ground by Philip Hughes at midwicket off Stuart Clarke’s opening over.
The biggest jolt for the Eagles came in the form of their most experienced player and captain Boeta Dippenaar (7). The former South Africa batsman chipped one straight to Katich at mid-off of Clark’s second over.
Off-spinner Hauritz too joined the party as he foxed Dean Elgar with a flighted delivery and wicket-keeper Daniel Smith did the rest.
Ryan McLaren, however, was in no mood to give up without a fight and along with van Schalkwyk put on 26 runs for the seventh wicket to delay the inevitable defeat.
Henriques also registered wickets against his name, castling van Schalkwyk for three.
Earlier, opting to bat, NSW made a horrible start with Victor Mptisang disturbing Philip Hughes’ timbers in the second over. The scoreboard read three for one at that time.
Hughes went for a wild slog, but missed the ball completely to see his off-stump uprooted.
New man in, Katich started his innings on a positive note, hitting three boundaries off Dillon Du Preez in the third over to up the NSW tempo.
Katich was in ominous form and found the fence at will without going for extravagant shots. Inspired by his skipper, David Warner (23 off 31 balls), who went into a shell initially, opened up and hit van Schalkwyk for three fours to take NSW score to 42 for one after six overs.
Both Katich and Warner looked in good from the onset and mixed caution with aggression to guide NSW to 69 for the loss of one wicket at the halfway mark.
Not a single Eagles’ bowler managed to trouble the left-handed duo as they shared 79 runs for the second wicket in 10.5 overs before medium-pacer Ryan Bailey bowled Warner.
Warner deflected the ball from his thigh pad on to the stumps to draw curtains on the dangerous looking partnership.
The breakthrough worked in favour of the South African side as in the next over Katich gave a simple catch to Rossouw at long—off off van Schalkwyk’s bowling, leaving NSW in a spot of bother at 84 for three after 14 overs.
The NSW captain’s innings included six fours and two sixes.
Then came Henriques and Rohfer and both the batsmen stepped up the accelerator from the word go to help their side’s cause.
Henriques struck three huge sixes in his knock before van Schalkwyk cut short his stay, caught by Adrian McLaren at short point. Rohfer, on the other hand, found the fence twice and cleared it once
