| Cape Cobras Herschelle Gibbs plays a shot against the New South Wales Blues during their Champions League Trophy T20 Cricket match at The M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai yesterday |
Lasith Malinga turned the tables on Chennai Super Kings with the bat, by leading the Mumbai Indians to a three-wicket victory, in their Champions League T20 match in Chennai yesterday. Mumbai was out of the contest for all intent and purpose, as they needed 58 runs off the final five overs with six wickets down. Kieron Pollard - their last hope - lost his wicket two balls later, and Lasith ‘Slinger’ Malinga joined Harbhajan Singh at the crease. Malinga smashed Albie Morkel for a four straight-away, and then took 13 runs off Shadab Jakati in the next over. Luck stayed with Malinga and Harbhajan, and needing 11 runs off the final over, Malinga hit two boundaries to put the result beyond doubt. The two batsmen have smashed 53 off 4.3 overs, and Malinga was not out with 37 off only 18 balls. Earlier, Michael Hussey scored 81 to provide the corner-stone of Chennai Super Kings’ innings of 158 for four, after they opted to bat first. Hussey blasted his innings off only 57 deliveries, and it included eight fours and three sixes. Abu Nechim ended Hussey’s stay at the crease and also claimed the wicket of Subramaniam Badrinanth for 16, to finish with 2/35.In the first match, Herschelle Gibbs plundered a sparkling half-century to lead the Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras to a seven-wicket win over the New South Wales Blues in their Nokia Champions League Twenty20 clash Gibbs blasted his way to 55 off 47 deliveries with five fours and two sixes as the Cobras, chasing the Blues’ total of 135 for eight, romped to 136 for three with 16 balls of their innings remaining.The 37-year-old Gibbs took his time to find his range on a two-paced pitch and he scored just one run off the first 11 balls that he faced. But he was soon at his exuberant best and he kicked into high gear by slamming a six and two fours off an over from 18-year-old fast bowler Pat Cummins as Gibbs brought up his 19th T20 fifty off 41 deliveries. Gibbs was dismissed in the 15th over when he hoisted a slower ball from Cummins to a leaping Moises Henriques at long-on.