The essence of David Warner’s blistering batting reflected gloriously in New South Wales Blues’ emphatic 79-run victory over Victoria Bushrangers in the first semifinal of the Airtel-Champions League Twenty20 at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Wednesday
Watched by a crowd of fifteen thousand, Blues made the right choice in batting first and the early momentum to the innings by Warner carried the team to a total of 169.
Early strikes
The task became monumental for Bushrangers as the pitch helped the bowlers more and Blues, which had read the situation astutely, gained from off-spinner Nathan Hauritz’s first over and the second of the innings. He snared Rob Quiney and Brad Hodge and Bushrangers hurtled towards defeat to lose in an embarrassing finish.
Warner, 23, showed the wisdom and experience of a veteran as he exploded with a clinical assault. His 25-ball 48, a quality effort with seven fours and two sixes, later earned him the Man of the Match.
The crowd relished every moment of Warner’s performance. After all, they had cheered him earlier for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
Sublime hitting
The calculated knock by Warner proved to be the difference between the teams. There was nothing crude about his batting as he flicked and smote the ball with a flourish that was some achievement on this slow pitch. That he did not mistime the shots was the hallmark of his knock.
In a partnership, that turned out to be a match-winning one, Warner and Phil Hughes put the team on a pedestal from which it dictated right through. There were cameos from Daniel Smith and Simon Katich but not before Hughes accounted for Warner’s wicket by calling him for a fatal single to point.
Warner gave up a good five yards from the crease but he had done a splendid job. His shots to the straightfield, especially the sixes off Peter Siddle and Clinton McKay, were standout blows.
Bushrangers came a cropper against an accurate Blues attack. The two blows by Hauritz left the Bushrangers camp in shambles and sent Katich and his men to Hyderabad for the final on Friday.
The scores:
NSW Blues: P. Hughes b McKay 35, D. Warner (run out) 48, D. Smith b McDonald 20, S. Katich (run out) 26, M. Henriques b Harwood 12, B. Rohrer c Quiney b McKay 19, S. Smith c White b McKay 2, B. Lee (not out) 0, N. Hauritz (not out) 1, Extras (b-3, lb-3) 6; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs) 169.
Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-90, 3-121, 4-134, 5-158, 6-163, 7-167.
Victoria Bushrangers bowling: Harwood 4-0-23-1, Siddle 4-0-43-0, McKay 4-0-27-3, Hodge 1-0-10-0, Holland 3-0-34-0, McDonald 4-0-26-1.
Victoria Bushrangers: R. Quiney b Hauritz 0, B. Hodge lbw b Hauritz 0, A. Blizzard c Katich b Lee 5, D. Hussey c Katich b Henriques 16, C. White c Smith b Henriques 11, A. McDonald b Bollinger 9, M. Wade (not out) 23, C. McKay c Katich b Henriques 8, S. Harwood st. D. Smith b S. Smith 10, J. Holland b Lee 0, P. Siddle (not out) 1, Extras (lb-4, w-3) 7; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs) 90.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-2, 3-6, 4-32, 5-39, 6-54, 7-68, 8-87, 9-88.
NSW Blues: Lee 4-1-15-2, Hauritz 4-0-25-2, Bollinger 4-0-14-1, Clark 4-0-17-0, Henriques 3-0-11-3, S. Smith 1-0-4-1.
