Lahore Lions were knocked out of the Champions League T20 semi-final spot race on Tuesday after Perth Scorchers beat them by three wickets at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.
The match saw an ominous beginning for Lions who saw rain spoiling the start after only three balls were bowled and opener Nasir Jamshed (1) already back in the dug-out. The match re-started 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 the walked in to save the day for his team to partner Wahab Riaz on the other end. But both were quickly dispatched by Scorchers for ducks.
Hafeez admitted in his post-match comment that they “were short on the board. We played bad shots, but I feel our spinners brought us back in the game. Mitchell Marsh played his shots and turned it their way. We didn’t bat well at the top which put pressure on the boys but Umar Akmal and Nasim played exceptionally once again. There was dew towards the end which made bowling difficult but we had the chances and we believe Mitch Marsh made all the difference. We are proud of what we have achieved here.”
Saad Nasim and Umar Akmal lent stability to the Lion’s innings and helped the score cross the 50-run mark. Akmal was dismissed in the 10th over after scoring 26 runs off 19 balls. The charge was then taken over by Mohammad Saeed who, along with Nasim added 48 runs to the team’s total.
Nasim scored his second half-century of the tournament to give Lion’s some hope as he pushed his side’s total to 124.
Lion’s, who needed to win by a good margin to qualify for the semi-final, started brightly with the ball and soon brought Perth to their knees.
Craig Simmons and Sam Whiteman were dispatched for ducks in the first and second over respectively. Hafeez then attacked the Scorchers’ lineup with closed in fielders which paid off and soon Perth were down to 40-6 in the ninth over.
But the Lion’s then crashed into Perth’s Mitchell Marsh, who scored 63 off just 38 balls to lead his team to victory. Experienced left-arm spinner Brad Hogg chipped in with a useful knock of 28 from 19 balls.
“It certainly was tight,” said Marsh, who was adjudged man-of-the-match. “Certainly not the start we would have wanted. Those totals are not always easy, and they have an experienced bowling line-up. Joel Paris has announced himself as a good bowler and he has a massive future. 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.
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