New Delhi, Oct 9 (Inditop.com) Stuart Clark and Brett Lee bowled inspiring spells to guide New South Wales Blues to a 53-run victory over Diamond Eagles in the opening Group B encounter of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Friday.
Chasing a target of 145, Eagles made 91 for nine in 20 overs with Ryan McLaren scoring 40 off 37 balls.
Clark picked up three for 12 from his four overs while Lee bagged one for 14 from his full quota on a slow surface. The eight overs bowled between these two bowlers proved crucial in New South Wales’ win. Young medium pacer Moises Henriques also picked up two for 13 from his three overs.
New South Wales captain Simon Katich justified his decision to bat first by scoring a classy 53 off 41 balls as his team made 144 for six in 20 overs.
The Australian team could have achieved a bigger total, but it was enough to be defended by their potent fast bowling battery.
Clark and Lee were misers and tied down the Eagles batsmen with a disciplined performance. While Lee relied on speed, Clark kept things simple by not giving any room to the Eagles batsmen.
Barring Ryan, the only other South African batsman who could get to double figures was his cousin Adrian (11).
Earlier in the day, Katich relied on timing and hit the ball crisply on both sides of the wicket and built the innings following a poor start by New South Wales after Phil Jacques departed in the second over with just three runs on the board.
Katich and David Warner (23) added 80 runs for the second-wicket and the Australian team looked set for a big total. But after Katich’s departure none of the New South Wales batsmen could capitalise on the starts they got.
Henriques made 27 off 19 balls while Ben Rohrer remained unbeaten on 22 from 15.
