Hobart beat Cape Cobras by 6 wickets
21st September, Hyderabad: Hobart beat Cape Cobras by 6 wickets. Hyderabad, Sep 21 (IANS) Hobart Hurricanes of Australia rode on a fine half-century from middle-order batsman Aiden Blizzard (78 not out off 48 balls) to beat South African team Cape Cobras by six wickets in their Champions League Twenty20 Group B clash here Sunday.
The South Africans batted first and managed to post an imposing total of 186/4 despite losing wickets at regular intervals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Richard Levi (42 off 30 balls) and Dane Vilas (25 from 22 balls) put on 48 runs for the third wicket to build a platform for Vernon Philander (32 not out) and Robin Peterson (25) to set a strong score.
In reply, Hurricanes lost Tim Paine early but Ben Dunk's 35-ball 54 put them on course but his untimely dismissal allowed Cobras to claw back in to the game.
The Hurricanes' scoring rate began to decrease and their task was made harder when both Shoaib Malik (8) and Travis Birt (7) were dismissed cheaply in the middle of their innings.
The Hobart batting line-up then became nervous as they looked to be in danger of losing a match they were comfortably winning when they required 31 runs off the final 16 balls.
But they were rescued from trouble by Blizzard's blistering knock that was studded by four boundaries and five sixes.
Brief Scores: Cape Cobras 184/6 in 20 overs (Richard Levi 42, Vernon Philander 32; Ben Laughlin 2/31) lost to Hobart Hurricanes 186/4 in 19 overs (Aiden Blizzard 78 not out, Ben Dunk 54; Sybrand Engelbrecht 3/20).
Scorecard - Hobart Vs Cape Cobras
Aiden Blizzard (Man of the match): There was a bit of rush in the end. Wells has a cool head and it was nice to have him. It was important to get a win on the board. We did not play our best cricket today, there is plenty of improvement. But this will give us confidence to chase down any score. Thanks to the crowd for their support. It is nice playing in front of big stadiums.
Tim Paine: Terrific batting. They got to a good start. We pulled them back. We gave away a few more than we expected. Its going to be exciting now. Wins like this will give momentum and we hope it carries on.
Justin Ontong: Crucial mistakes in the end. We cant afford that in T20 cricket. That couple of mistakes in the field also cost that. The spinners bowled well. It was not good to lose Piedt. Seems like he dislocated his shoulder. I am not sure. There are a couple of days for the next game, hopefully he gets fit in time.