New South Wales Crush Victoria To Reach Final

New South Wales Crush Victoria To Reach Final

David Warner led the way for the Blues, hammering 48 at the top of the order.

©Action Images / Andrew Couldridge

New South Wales 169-7 (Warner 48, McKay 3-27) beat
Victoria 90-9 (Wade 23no, Henriques 3-11) by 79 runs
Airtel Champions League Twenty20 semi-final, Delhi

New South Wales booked their place in the Champions League final with a 79-run win over Victoria in Delhi, repeating their success in the KFC Big Bash final of earlier in the year.

This victory was far more comprehensive, however, the Blues scoring 169 for seven and then restricting the Bushrangers to just 90 for nine in reply.

David Warner thumped 48 in 25 balls and Phillip Hughes 35 in 28 as they put on 62 in 6.5 overs after New South Wales won the toss and chose to bat, and their top order delivered in style, Simon Katich hitting 26, Daniel Smith 20 and Ben Rohrer 19 to set Victoria 170 to win.

Warner smashed seven fours and two sixes although Clint McKay dismissed him, Rohrer and Stephen Smith to finish with figures of three for 27 which were more than respectable, as were the efforts of Shane Harwood (1-23) and Andrew McDonald (1-26).

Opening the bowling with Nathan Hauritz alongside Brett Lee then proved to be a masterstroke for the Blues, the off-spinner bowling Rob Quiney and having Brad Hodge trapped in front in the second over, neither man scoring a run.

Lee then had Aiden Blizzard caught by Katich for five and the Bushrangers were in trouble at five for three, the sort of score from which even teams with their Twenty20 pedigree do not recover from to win.

Under intense pressure throughout their innings, their batsmen were unable to free the shackles, only McKay, who hit eight in six balls, and Harwood, who made ten in eight, managing to score at more than a run per ball as wickets continued to tumble.

Captain Cameron White made 11 in 23 balls and David Hussey 16 in 17 although he did at least manage to hit a six, a feat also achieved by wicket-keeper Matthew Wade on his way to an unbeaten 23 in 29 balls.

Moises Henriques emerged with the best bowling figures, taking three for 11 while Hauritz took two for 25, Lee finished with two for 15 while Doug Bollinger and Stephen Smith took one apiece.

The Blues will face either Trinidad & Tobago or the Cape Cobras in Friday's final in Hyderabad.

© Cricket World 2009

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