Mitchell makes 'Marsh-mellows' out of Lions

Perth beat the Lahore outfit but Chennai go through on better NRR.

KARACHI:

Lahore Lions were knocked out of the Champions League T20 semi-final spot race on Tuesday after losing to Perth Scorchers by three wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Rain threatened to spoil the match as play was called off after only three balls were bowled, with opener Nasir Jamshed (1) already back in the dug-out. The match resumed after half-an-hour and Umar Siddiq (1) departed on the sixth ball of the first over with the scoreboard at 2-2.

Lions’ skipper Muhammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz were also quickly dispatched by Scorchers for ducks.

Hafeez admitted in his post-match comment that the top order toppled while playing bad shots.

“We played bad shots, but I feel our spinners brought us back in the game,” said Hafeez. “Mitchell Marsh played his shots and turned it their way. Umar Akmal and Saad Nasim played exceptionally once again.

“There was dew towards the end which made bowling difficult but we had the chances. We are proud of what we have achieved here.”

Saad and Umar lent stability to the Lion’s innings and helped the score cross the 50-run mark. Nasim added 48 runs to the team’s total during his partnership venture with Mohammad Saeed and scored his second half-century of the tournament, pushing his side’s total to 124-6.

Lions, who needed to win by a margin of 47 runs to qualify for the semi-final, started brightly with the ball and soon brought Perth to their knees in the ninth over, reducing them to 40-6.

But the Lions were stopped in their tracks by Perth skipper Marsh, who scored 63 off just 38 balls to lead his team to victory, with Brad Hogg contributing 28 runs from 19 balls.

“It certainly was tight,” said Marsh, who was also adjudged man of the match. “Those totals are not always easy and they [Lions] have an experienced bowling line-up. It has been fantastic. Although we lost those two close games, we take a lot out of them.”

Perth and Lions are both out of the tournament’s last-four spots while Chennai Super Kings qualified alongside Kolkata Knight Riders.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2014.

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