A late batting collapse in the Cape Cobras innings, triggered by career-best spells from Akshar Patel and Anureet Singh, helped Kings XI Punjab overcome an early blitz from Hashim Amla. Their batsmen then comfortably overhauled the middling target to make it four wins in four, ensuring the team finished at the top of the Group B table.
The pitch had been sluggish in the afternoon during the game between Barbados Tridents and Hobart Hurricanes and that had forced the groundsman to water the surface before the start of the match. One cannot be certain if the way Cobras started their innings was a result of that or the brilliance of one man. Amla saw his partner Richard Levi pick up two fours and a six in the first two overs - all poor deliveries - before spreading his wings.
Amla greeted Kings XI's best bowler, Akshar Patel, with a rasping cut shot in the third over and followed it up with two inside-out boundaries in the next over - one of them going all the way over the ropes. Thirteen runs came off the fourth over but it just happened to be the trailer. In the fifth over, Amla launched into Thisara Perera, picking up five consecutive boundaries and taking the team well past 50 in the process.
But the innings took a different turn once Amla holed out at long off to Karanveer Singh's legspin. The ball started gripping and stopping on the pitch again. Levi continued for a bit, finding the odd big hit and taking the team past 100 in the 13th over, before the wheels came off.
The next seven wickets, after Levi was dismissed, could only last for 33 more balls and only 30 runs were added in that period.
Three of those wickets went to the impressive Akshar, who was also economical, giving away just two fours in his spell, and the other three to Anureet. Both also had to thank the agility of their wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha who affected two stumpings off Akshar and took a brilliant diving catch off Anureet.
The target of 136 was going to be hard to defend against the Kings XI batting line-up. They had been prolific during the IPL and they have been similarly ruthless in the Champions League this year. Their lowest total - 146 - came from 17.4 overs. So Cobras' best bet was to pick early wickets. But that never happened.
Apart from Robin Peterson, who picked up the wickets of Virender Sehwag and Manan Vohra, none of the bowlers exerted any control over the batsmen and, with no real weak spot in their batting order, the run rate never dipped during any of the partnerships.
Sehwag and Vohra added 41 for the opening wicket, Saha joined Sehwag to add another 33. Once Sehwag was dismissed, Saha added 34 with Glenn Maxwell and paired with David Miller to take Kings XI over the line.
Hobart Hurricanes 117 for 4 (Malik 39*, Hosein 2-25) beat Barbados Tridents 113 (Carter 42, Doherty 4-27) by six wickets
Another disciplined effort from Hobart Hurricanes' bowlers put the side in the Champions League T20 semi-finals following their six-wicket win over Barbados Tridents. Tridents' score of 113 was the lowest by a side batting first in a full game in this Champions League and although they fought back well with the ball, Shoaib Malik's unbeaten 39 kept the reins of the chase firmly with Hurricanes on a slow pitch.
Given their recent run of high scores and relative knowledge of the conditions in Mohali, Tridents captain Rayad Emrit had hoped his side would not struggle too much on a new pitch. However, the tinges of green on the track did not make the ball come on to the bat faster.
Ben Hilfenhaus found some early swing to work in his favour and both he and Doug Bollinger mixed up length and full-pitched deliveries with the occasional short ball, and that brought them early wickets.
The slower bowlers then built on that platform, capitalising on the fact that the ball appeared to come a touch slower off the pitch. Xavier Doherty struck with the first ball he bowled, getting rid of James Franklin, and as the scoring rate was stifled, Tridents had just Jonathan Carter in the middle to steer the innings.
The batsman, who had struck a brisk century in his last match, had a quiet start before opening up to cart sixes and fours off Malik, Doherty and Bollinger in successive overs. Doherty, however, got his wicket as the innings moved into its last phase, draining all momentum.
Had Carter stayed at the crease for a little longer, Tridents would have had a more competitive total to defend but the bowlers fought scrappily despite the low score.
Hurricanes' reply, by any stretch, was not a smooth batting effort but Tridents contributed to their own problems by dropping chances. Aiden Blizzard had two reprieves off an accurate Ravi Rampaul while Tim Paine had one - had those been taken, the target of 114 would have looked tougher for the Australian side.
In the midst of this, Malik's innings stood out for his composure and skill at manoeuvring the ball. The risky shots were eschewed, but he found the singles and twos easily, eventually closing the match out with successive fours in the 19th over.
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