Ferguson Stars For South Australia

Ferguson Stars For South Australia

Callum Ferguson led South Australia to an impressive total.

©REUTERS/Action Images

South Australia 188-5 (Ferguson 70no, Christian 42) beat
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-9 (Tiwary 40) by 19 runs
Champions League Twenty20, Hyderabad
Scorecard

South Australia recorded their first win of the 2011 Champions League Twenty20 and bumped Kolkata Knight Riders to the bottom of Group B following a 19-run triumph in Hyderabad.

After winning the toss, Redbacks captain Michael Klinger had no hesistaition in electing to bat on a slow pitch and he, in conjunction with Dan Harris, put on 45 for the first wicket before Harris was caught off the bowling of Lakshmipathy Balaji for 26 from 19 balls. Shakib Al Hasan (none for 23) and Yusuf Pathan then continued the Kolkata fightback with some intelligent spin bowling and reduced South Australia to 77 for three after 11 overs.

Dan Christian (42 from 27) and Callum Ferguson then played the defining partnership of the match, as the pair put on 74 for the fourth wicket from only 44 balls, including taking 20 from Pathan’s final over, as the Redbacks eventually closed on 188 for five with Ferguson ending on 70 not out from 40 balls.

When they batted, the Knight Riders struggled to keep up with the required rate throughout and it took a couple of late cameos from Ryan ten Doeschate (32 from 16) and Rajat Bhatia (21 from 13) for them to achieve their eventual total of 169 for nine. Gary Putland ended as the pick of the bowlers for South Australia, as their spinners continued struggle to adapt to Indian pitches, with figures of three for 31 from his four overs.

© Cricket World 2011