By Sheriff Michaels
 |
| The Journey Ends for Auckland Aces after Sterling Show at CLT2012 |
CENTURION, South
Africa (TheSportsNEXT) October 23, 2012: Perth Scorchers registered their
first victory at the Champions League Twenty20 2012 on Tuesday when they kicked
Auckland Aces out of the competition with a 16-run victory at the SuperSport
Park in Centurion.
The Auckland Aces needed to win this match to stay alive in
the competition and they might have got a great chance because the other match
of the day between Delhi Daredevils and Nashua Titans was washed out after the
toss.
Delhi Daredevils and Nahua Titans qualified into the
Semi-Finals of the Champions League Twenty20 2012 from Group A while Sydney
Sixers and Highveld Lions joined them from Group B.
First Semi-Final will be played between Delhi Daredevils and
Highveld Lions on October 25 at Kingsmead in Durban while Sydney Sixers will
take on Nashua Titans in the second Semi-Final scheduled for October 26 at
SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Final of the Champions League Twenty20 2012 will be played
on October 28 at Johannesburg.
Perth Scorchers skipper Marcus North won the toss and
decided to bat first. Auckland Aces would also have loved to bat first to
register a thumping victory over the BigBashLeague side but it wasn’t to be the
case.
Perth Scorchers scored 140 runs for the loss of seven
wickets from their 20 overs before Auckland Aces succumbed to a pressure of
their own minds to manage only 124 for eight from their quota of 20 overs, thus
falling 16 runs short of the target.
Former South African opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs (6
from 6 – 1 four) continued to prove a failure on his home ground but skipper
Marcus North (37 from 35 – 4 fours, 1 six) and Simon Katich (21 from 23 – 2 fours)
undid the early loss with 55 runs partnership for second wicket.
Both batsmen went back in a quick succession but former
England captain Paul Collingwood (38 from 27 – 5 fours) and Tom Beaton (22 from
19 – 1 four, 1 six) upped the tempo during second half of the innings and
despite of a late collapse the Perth Scorchers managed to score a fighting 140
runs total on the board.
Michael Bates was the standout performer for the Auckland
Aces with the ball as he captured four wickets for 34 runs while Kyle Mills was
also useful during his miser spell of none for 14 from four overs. Azhar
Mahmood also bowled well during his spell of none for 24 from four while Bruce
Martin (4-0-25-0) also kept a lid on scoring rate.
Chasing 141 for victory and a possible qualification, the
Auckland Aces got off to a worst start by losing hard-hitting Lou Vincent for
only two runs.
However, Martin Guptill (36 from 32 – 3 fours, 1 six) and
Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood (23 from 21 – 4 fours) resurrected the
innings as they slowly picked up the pace to add 49 valuable runs for the
second wicket before Guptill lost his mind to gift his wicket away to Michael
Beer with wicketkeeper Ronchi taking a useful catch.
Anaru Kitchen (6 from 6 – 1 four) soon departed and when
Azhar Mahmood lost his cool and wicket the Auckland Aces were completely
rattled as they lacked someone who could steer the innings to an unlikely
looking victory.
Colin Munro (23 from 18 – 1 four, 1 six) did his best to
rescue the wrecked ship but lacked support from the other end as Colin de
Grandhomme (4 from 4), skipper Gareth Hopkins (9 from 12 – 1 four), and Ronnie
Hira (2 from 3) all lost their wickets in a bid to up the scoring rate.
In the end, the Auckland Aces could score 124 for eight and
were knocked out of the competition.
Michael Beer, who took three wickets for 13 runs from his
four overs, was declared Man of the Match while Joe Mennie (4-0-23-2), Nathan
Coulter-Nile (4-0-26-0), Ryan Duffield (3-0-17-1), and Brad Hogg (4-0-30-1) all
bowled exceedingly well to defend a lower total successfully.
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