Faislabad Wolves nicked an unlikely face-saver, giving themselves a going home present with a comfortable 10-run win over the Kandurata Maroons in their closing game of the Champions League T20 qualifiers at the PCA Stadium here on Friday.
Chasing Faislabad’s 146/6, Kandurata were pegged down to 136/7 in their 20 overs and the Wolves will head home having recovered some pride.
It was a worthwhile gift too for their skipper, Misbah-ul Haq’s unbeaten 93 capping a fine run here with previous scores of 46 and 56. Faislabad came nowhere near staking a claim for the tournament proper, but he leaves India with reputation enhanced and this unlikely win over strong opponents to boot.
The Maroons came undone in the chase from a combination of good bowling and casual batting, Kumar Sangakkara showing the way yet again with his 36-ball 44. But with only opener Upul Tharanga and Chamara Silva (25 each) adding runs of any significance, it was never going to be enough.
Innings top wicket-taker Ehsan Adil fittingly claimed the victory with a wicket off the last delivery of the game to finish with 3/26. Imran Khalid (2/27) and Asad Ali (1/24) were the other wicket-takers.
Earlier, Maroons’ quick Dilhara Lokuhettige made the most of some profligate batting to come away with 3/21 without the ball doing a great deal, and it needed Misbah’s mix of patience and aggression to give the game a semblance of competition.
Walking in at familiar 20/2, Misbah was as solid as ever, though he did profit from a dropped chance on the line very early on in the innings, After that there was no looking back and had it not been for a tight final over by Nuwan Kulasekar, he may well have got to a hundred.
In the event, Misbah did get to 93 (60b, 6x4, 5x6) with only wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman (21, 21b, 1x4) giving him reasonable company. Almost every one of the other partnerships was a one-man show, as indeed was the innings itself.
All-win record
for Volts
Later, Otago Volts kept a clean sheet in the CLT20 qualifiers, thumping Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in the final match of the preliminary round. Chasing Hydera-bad’s 143/5, the Volts were seen home by skipper Brendon McCullum’s 67 not out (39b, 5x4, 5x6) after JP Duminy had earlier top-scored for the Sunrisers with an unbeaten 38-ball 57.
Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 143/5 (JP Duminy 57 n.o., Nathan McCullum 2/25, Nick Beard 2/31) lost to Otago Volts 144/5 (Brendon McCullum 67, Dale Steyn 2/13)