MCL 3rd Match Review: Comfortable win for Sagittarius Strikers

Sagittarius Strikers began their Masters Champions League (MCl) campaign with an effortless 26 runs win over Virgo Super Kings. The Super Kings batting order proved hollow in front of the Strikers bowling attack comprising of Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori among others.

The Strikers won the toss decided to bat first. The Strikers began with a decent 25 runs opening partnership between Jayawardene and Gilchrist before the latter fell in the fourth over.  Jayawardene and Michael Carberry then put up a 71 runs stand and took their team to a strong position. However, Gareth Batty, in the 12th over, found the important breakthrough for the Super Kings in the form of the wicket of Carberry thereby ending the partnership.

Jayawardene displayed his class and continued hammering the Super Kings’ bowlers. However, Jacob Oram managed to get rid of him in the 17th over of the match. The fall of the well-set Jayawardene had its impact as the Strikers could only accumulate 19 runs off the remaining three overs and finished at an slightly under-par score of 157/5.

Brett Lee (2/29) was exceptional for the Super Kings and was their most successful bowler. Both of his wickets came in the 18th over when he removed Jonathan Trott and Phil Mustard off the third and the sixth ball of the over respectively.

Chasing 158 runs to win, the start was pretty bad for the Super Kings as they lost their opener, former South Africa skipper, Graeme Smith in the first over for a duck. Shane Bond lured Smith into nicking one to Gilchrist. He finished with an amazing wicket maiden.

After a while, former Kiwi pacer Shane Bond made his presence felt yet again after he bagged two wickets in 5^th over. Bond, who was already into the third over of his spell, made Neil McKenzie and Owais Shah depart in the space of three deliveries. Daniel Vettori made things worse for the Super Kings as he removed Jonty Rhodes in the following over.

The Strikers bowler kept striking at regular intervals. The middle order was toothless and crumbled in no time. The tail-enders Foster (10 off 16 balls) and Brett Lee (21 from 16 balls) made their contributions. Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood was only bright spot in the Super Kings batting line-up. Coming into bat at number 8 in the 10th over, Azhar batted till the penultimate over and struck an appreciable half-century before falling to Vettori. All these efforts by the lower order batsmen were not enough as Super Kings could only gather 131/9 after the end of 20 over.

Brief Scores:

Sagittarius Strikers: 157/6 in 20 overs (Mahela Jayawardene 69; Brett Lee 2/29)

Virgo Super Kings: 131/9 in 20 overs (Azhar Mahmood ; Daniel Vettori 3/19)

Man of the Match: Shane Bond