Chennai, Sep 24: A scintillating half-century from Herschelle Gibbs powered the Cape Cobras to a convincing seven-wicket win over the New South Wales Blues at the MA Chidambaram Stadium today. Set to chase 136 in 20 overs, Cape Cobras got past the finish line with 16 deliveries to spare.
It was an innings of two parts from Gibbs; the 37-year-old struggled to put bat to ball early on and scored only one run from the first 11 deliveries he faced. However, once he made contact, there was no stopping him. He creamed the NSW Blues bowlers to all parts of the Chepauk; there were some audacious cuts, pulls and some neatly timed drives much to the delight of his teammates and the spectators in the stands. He hit five boundaries and two sixes in his 47-ball 55, and ultimately perished to a brilliant catch on the boundary by Moises Henriques.
Though Gibbs was the top-scorer in the team, it was his opening partner Richard Levi who set the tone for the run-chase. The 23-year-old raced to 43 from 26 balls before holing out to David Warner at long on. The opening partnership realized 88 runs off 9.3 overs to lay the foundation for the successful chase.
Earlier in the afternoon, New South Wales Blues skipper Simon Katich won the toss and opted to bat first. His team got off to a rollicking start, cruising to 54 for one by the time the fielding restrictions were eased at the end of six overs. Both NSW Blues openers – David Warner and Shane Watson – were let off early in the innings and both players cashed in on the chances they got; Warner, who was dropped on 11, made 20 before holing out to midwicket, while Watson (dropped on seven and 19) made 34 before having his stumps rearranged by Robin Peterson.
Daniel Smith made a useful contribution at No. 3, but none of the other NSW Blues batsmen made anything of note. The NSW Blues could only manage 53 runs in the second half of their innings and lost six wickets in the process.
Peterson was the pick of the bowlers for Cape Cobras; the left-arm spinner, who opened the bowling, picked up the key wicket of Watson and conceded only 20 runs in his four-over spell. He was complemented well by the rest of the bowling attack – Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveldt, Vernon Philander and Justin Kemp all chipped in with wickets.
The seven-wicket win for Cape Cobras means both the South African teams have won their opening matches in the Nokia CLT20 2011. Cape Cobras’ next fixture will be against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings on September 28, while the NSW Blues will clash with Trinidad and Tobago earlier on the same day.
Brief Score: New South Wales Blues 135/8 (Shane Watson 34, Daniel Smith 24, Vernon Philander 2-21, Charl Langeveldt 2-38) lost to Cape Cobras 136/3 in 17.2 Overs (Herschelle Gibbs 55, Richard Levi 43, Moises Henriques 1-20, Steven Smith 1-27, Pat Cummins 1-27)
Man of the Match: Herschelle Gibbs, for a scintillating innings of 55 that set up his team’s seven-wicket win
