Sharjah: The Virgo Super Kings became the second team to book their spot in the semi-finals of the Masters Champions League (MCL) with a 12-run win over Capricorn Commanders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing a paltry 132 for victory, the Commanders started off well with openers Ashwell Prince and Andrew Symonds laying a good foundation with 51 runs. Once leg-spinner Malinga Bandara was introduced, the Commanders started to falter and finally could only muster 119 for nine at the end of their 20 overs.
Bandara, who finished with four wickets for a paltry 16 runs in his four overs was declared the Man of the Match.
The Virender Sehwag-led Gemini Arabians had already entered the semi-finals on Friday with a clean record of five wins from as many matches for a maximum ten points. The race for the next three slots was evenly poised with four teams in the hunt with four points each. The winless Libra Legends were out of the reckoning with no points to their credit.
Virgo Super Kings’ win fetched them another two points to take them up to six and book their slot, while the final match of Sunday night between the Leo Lions and winless Libra Legends will decide the two from three teams making the last-four stage.
“Perhaps we were a good 20 to 30 runs short out there. So if we consider this aspect, then in the end this was a good comeback from the team,” Brett Lee told media at the post-match conference.
“As a team we can definitely improve in all facets of the game. Given that this is a bunch of experienced players, we are trying to spread the workload around a bit so that everything becomes a real team effort. Now that we are in the semi-finals, we’ve just got to keep on doing the things we have been doing so far,” he added.
Earlier, the Commanders had given themselves a fair chance by restricting their opponents to a modest 131 for nine. Stand-in skipper Neil McKenzie top-scored with 43 runs from 29 balls including five boundaries and a six, while six-down Hasan Raza was next best with an unbeaten 32 from 29 deliveries.
Ben Laughlin was the pick of the bowlers for the Commanders with four wickets at the cost of 14 runs, while Jeetan Patel, Abdul Razzaq and Rikki Clarke – who took a splendid one-handed catch to send back McKenzie – got one wicket each.
“I think we could have won this one as we weren’t even under pressure. We had a partnership at the end, but that was not enough,” rued Razzaq.
“We did well in fielding and in restricting them to a small total, but in the end we could not capitalise either on the good start or in keeping up to the asking rate,” he added.
Brief Scores: Virgo Super Kings defeated Capricorn Commanders by 12 runs. Virgo Super Kings 131 for nine in 20 overs (Neil McKenzie 43, Hasan Raza 32 n.o.; Ben Laughlin 4 for 14) vs Capricorn Commanders 119 for 9 in 20 overs (Andy Symonds 21, Ashwell Prince 30; Malinga Bandara 4 for 16; Brett Lee 2 for 25). Man of the Match: Malinga Bandara (Virgo Super Kings).
