Port Elizabeth - Isuru Udana took the first hat-trick in the history of Airtel Champions League T20 cricket to lead the Wayamba Elevens to a 74 runs victory over the Central Stags at St. George’s Park on Wednesday.
It was Wayamba’s first victory of the tournament to earn them 4th place on the Group A log. The Central Stags thus join Guyana in going home without a win at the tournament.
Wayamba, who won the toss, looked as though they had put a total on the board that was only just competitive when they reached 144/6 in their 20 overs but in the end it proved far more than enough.
The match was decided during the 3rd and 4th overs bowled by Udana and Ajantha Mendis. The Stags slumped from 15/1 to 16/5 in the space of 6 deliveries with the only run coming from a wide which was unusually the middle ball of the hat trick.
Wicketkeeper Kushal Perera was involved in the first two hat trick deliveries with a catch to dismiss Brad Patton and then the leg-side stumping of Matthew Sinclair. The left-arm seamer finished his hat trick in grand style when he bowled George Worker who played down the wrong line.
The very next ball saw Mendis dismiss Peter Ingram leg before wicket. He had earlier got rid of Jamie How, also leg before wicket, and with their leading runs scorer back in the pavilion there was no way back for the Stags in the match.
Wyamba never let up their intensity especially in the field where captain Jehan Mubarak took a sensational left-handed catch in which he dived horizontally to dismiss the Stags’ top scorer, Bevan Griggs, for 19 off 22 balls.
Left arm spinner Rangana Herath provided another record when he returned the most economical four over spell at this year’s tournament, finishing with 2/7.
It was Wayamba’s first victory of the tournament to earn them 4th place on the Group A log. The Central Stags thus join Guyana in going home without a win at the tournament.
Wayamba, who won the toss, looked as though they had put a total on the board that was only just competitive when they reached 144/6 in their 20 overs but in the end it proved far more than enough.
The match was decided during the 3rd and 4th overs bowled by Udana and Ajantha Mendis. The Stags slumped from 15/1 to 16/5 in the space of 6 deliveries with the only run coming from a wide which was unusually the middle ball of the hat trick.
Wicketkeeper Kushal Perera was involved in the first two hat trick deliveries with a catch to dismiss Brad Patton and then the leg-side stumping of Matthew Sinclair. The left-arm seamer finished his hat trick in grand style when he bowled George Worker who played down the wrong line.
The very next ball saw Mendis dismiss Peter Ingram leg before wicket. He had earlier got rid of Jamie How, also leg before wicket, and with their leading runs scorer back in the pavilion there was no way back for the Stags in the match.
Wyamba never let up their intensity especially in the field where captain Jehan Mubarak took a sensational left-handed catch in which he dived horizontally to dismiss the Stags’ top scorer, Bevan Griggs, for 19 off 22 balls.
Left arm spinner Rangana Herath provided another record when he returned the most economical four over spell at this year’s tournament, finishing with 2/7.