Sydney Sixers Finish With Fourth Win Out Of Four

Sydney Sixers Finish With Fourth Win Out Of Four

Mitchell Starc took two wickets as Sydney Sixers finished off the group stage with a perfect record

©REUTERS / Action Images

Sydney Sixers 136-7 (Smith 41) beat
Mumbai Indians 124-8 by 12 runs
CLT20 Group B, Durban

Sydney Sixers made it a perfect four wins out of four in the Champions League Twenty20 as they held on to beat reigning champions Mumbai Indians by 12 runs in Durban.

Although they came close to winning before reaching 124 for eight in reply to Sydney's 136 for seven, Mumbai ended the tournament with three defeats and a no result to show for their efforts.

Batting first, Sydney had Steve Smith's run-a-ball 41 and Nic Maddinson's more expansive 27 in 13 balls to thank for their score and although five Mumbai players made starts, none could go on and make a telling score.

Michael Lumb also played his part for the Sixers with 28 in 22 balls, dominating an opening partnership worth 33 with Peter Nevill (5).

Maddinson lifted Lasith Malinga (2-36) over third man for a six from the first ball he faced but his run out by Malinga looked set to cost Sydney dear when he departed in the 11th over.

However, Smith played intelligently, hitting three fours, leaving the big hitting to Nathan McCullum, who celebrated his first start of the tournament by making 20 in 12 balls.

Munaf Patel also returned two wickets with Thisara Perera and Harbhajan Singh taking one apiece.

In reply, Mumbai made a solid start through Dwayne Smith (26) and Sachin Tendulkar (23). Both were dismissed by Moises Henriques and then a brace of run outs ended the innings of Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik.

Pat Cummins ran out Sharma and then removed Kieron Pollard for four to put Mumbai in trouble at 93 for five.

When Perera fell for two and Ambati Rayudu for six - both to Mitchell Starc - the game was definitively slipping away from the reigning champions and so it proved.

Harbhajan blasted 22 in nine balls to at least ensure the champions went down fighting but it was too little, too late.

Starc finished with two for 32, Cummins two for 16 and Henriques two for 30.

© Cricket World 2012