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Johannesburg - The New South Wales blues made short work of a small target to rush home by six wickets with 49 balls to spare in their Champions League Twenty20 against Somerset at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, on Sunday.
From the first ball, David Warner put any hopes the English champions had of springing a surprise to rest, as he smashed 40 runs off only 16 deliveries before he became one of Somerset's few successes in the fifth over with the score already on 56.
Zander de Bruyn took two wickets, but the target was far too small for it to have any lasting impact, and captain Simon Katich (18) hit the winning run with more than eight overs to spare.
The Blues have thus sealed their semifinal spot, because of their high net run-rate.
Katich was quite matter-of-fact, "The wicket quickened up when we batted. That made a difference. We have to replicate the intensity from the first two games in Delhi. Everyone has to chip in around the openers."
Earlier, a miserable batting effort saw Somerset reach only 111/7.
Having been asked to bat, Somerset were in trouble from the outset, as Stuart Clark ripped through their top-order and reduced them to 39 for three, before Arul Suppiah set off for a suicidal single and was promptly run out.
Peter Trego retraced his steps back to the dug-out before the score had reached 50, but De Bruyn and Omari Banks (15) joined forces to push Somerset to at least 81 before the latter departed, followed three runs later by De Bruyn for 23.
Facing the ignominy of not batting out their overs or reaching 100, Wes Durston hit out lustily for two fours and a six to at least ward off those two evils, but even so, New South Wales will back themselves to get this lowly target without much fuss.
Clark was the star bowler, finishing with 3/15 off his four overs.
NSW now awaits the result of the next match to see which of Trinidad & Tobago or the Eagles would join them in the last four.
Somerset captain, Justin Langer, also announced his retirement after the match.
"We've been outplayed for a lot of the tournament and that is disappointing for our fans back home. But it's been a real eye-opener for a lot of our guys. We were up against a world-class bowling attack.
"They bowled beautifully. No excuses with the wicket, the outfield was as good as Lord's or the SCG. We will come back.
"And this is my final match. It's nice to bow out in India playing in tough conditions."
From the first ball, David Warner put any hopes the English champions had of springing a surprise to rest, as he smashed 40 runs off only 16 deliveries before he became one of Somerset's few successes in the fifth over with the score already on 56.
Zander de Bruyn took two wickets, but the target was far too small for it to have any lasting impact, and captain Simon Katich (18) hit the winning run with more than eight overs to spare.
The Blues have thus sealed their semifinal spot, because of their high net run-rate.
Katich was quite matter-of-fact, "The wicket quickened up when we batted. That made a difference. We have to replicate the intensity from the first two games in Delhi. Everyone has to chip in around the openers."
Earlier, a miserable batting effort saw Somerset reach only 111/7.
Having been asked to bat, Somerset were in trouble from the outset, as Stuart Clark ripped through their top-order and reduced them to 39 for three, before Arul Suppiah set off for a suicidal single and was promptly run out.
Peter Trego retraced his steps back to the dug-out before the score had reached 50, but De Bruyn and Omari Banks (15) joined forces to push Somerset to at least 81 before the latter departed, followed three runs later by De Bruyn for 23.
Facing the ignominy of not batting out their overs or reaching 100, Wes Durston hit out lustily for two fours and a six to at least ward off those two evils, but even so, New South Wales will back themselves to get this lowly target without much fuss.
Clark was the star bowler, finishing with 3/15 off his four overs.
NSW now awaits the result of the next match to see which of Trinidad & Tobago or the Eagles would join them in the last four.
Somerset captain, Justin Langer, also announced his retirement after the match.
"We've been outplayed for a lot of the tournament and that is disappointing for our fans back home. But it's been a real eye-opener for a lot of our guys. We were up against a world-class bowling attack.
"They bowled beautifully. No excuses with the wicket, the outfield was as good as Lord's or the SCG. We will come back.
"And this is my final match. It's nice to bow out in India playing in tough conditions."
