Match 16: Wayamba Elevens v Bushrangers

September 20, Centurion: Chasing an achievable 163 against Chennai at Port Elizabeth's St George's Park, the Bushrangers' chances of keeping their Champions League finals hopes alive looked positively robust after opener Aaron Finch ignored a debilitating virus to swat 41 from just 17 balls.
Jehan Mubarak, captain of Wayamba, won the toss and opted to bat. It must be remembered that the last time these two sides met, on the 13th of October, 2009, in the first edition of CLT20, the match was a low scoring affair. Only 221 runs were scored between the two teams, with Wayamba having posted 118 beating Victorian Bushrangers by 15 runs on a Feroz Shah Kotla wicket that was to come in for much criticism in that tournament.
The way Wayamba batted today was reminiscent of their performance in that match last year.  Opener Jeevantha Kulatunga and No.3 Mahela Udawatte were both back in the pavilion without even opening their account. Then came perhaps the most enjoyable passage of play Wayamba have had all tournament. Mahela Jayawardene and Mubarak batted with abandon to add 72 runs for the third wicket in just 52 deliveries. Jayawardene hit a couple of cheeky boundaries down to fine leg, while Mubarak swatted Hastings for a couple of big sixes on the leg side.
At 81 for 2 for two after 10 overs, Jayawardene and Mubarak appeared to have bailed their side out of trouble and were looking to consolidate when Mubarak was caught by Mike Hussey off Andrew McDonald. Wayamba’s fortunes were pretty much downhill from that moment. Eight Wayamban wickets fell in the space of 39 deliveries and though Jayawardene posted a half-century (51 off 40), Wayamba had only themselves to blame for a below par score of 106. For Victoria the bowling star was Peter Siddle, the pace ace picking up career best T20 bowling figures of 4 for 29 in his spell of four overs.

Brad Hodge was the first Victorian wicket to fall with the score at 15, the opener’s dismal run at the tournament continuing. Matthew Wade played a scratchy innings and was even dropped by Thisara Perera, but was eventually castled over by Isuru Udana. Hussey walked in to join Aaron Finch with the score at 31 and after that the result of the game was never in doubt.

Udana was smacked for 17 runs in the eighth over of the Victorian innings by Hussey and Finch then brought an early end to Wayamba’s agony by hitting Karunanayake and Herath for a couple of boundaries. Wayamba’s dismal run at CLT20 continued as the Bushrangers reached the target with 8 wickets to spare. And though Chennai Super Kings still have a game to play against the Warriors, the Bushrangers, having won comfortably and taken their points tally in Group A to 6 points, have put the pressure right back on Chennai in the race for a place in the semi-final.

Brief Scores – Victorian Bushrangers 108 for 2 (David Hussey 47*, Aaron Finch 38*, Thisara Perera 1-13) beat  
Wayamba Elevens 106 (Mahela Jayawardene 51, Jehan Mubarak 44, Peter Siddle 4-29) by 8 wickets

Man-of-the-match – Peter Siddle for his fiery spell of 4-29 that swung the game decisively in favour of the Bushrangers.