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Chandigarh: Faisalabad Wolves defeated Kandurata Maroons by 10 runs in the fifth match of the qualifying stage of the CLT20.
Misbah-ul-Haq played a captain's knock as Faisalabad Wolves defeated Kandurata Maroons by 10 runs in the fifth match of the qualifying stage of the 2013 Champions League Twenty20 at Mohali today. Both the teams had failed to qualify for the main tournament, but Maroons go back to Sri Lanka with the dubious ignominy of losing all their three matches.
Misbah again led from the front as he rescued Wolves for the third consecutive match after the fall of early wickets and his 93 not out helped Faisalabad recover to score 146 for 6 after being asked to bat first.
Maroons suffered an early jolt in their chase when Asad Ali trapped Thilina Kandamby LBW in the second over. Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara then staged a mini-recovery but their 29-run partnership came at more than a ball as the Wolves' bowlers did the basics well.
Ehsan Adil ended the second wicket partnership when Tharanga (25) hit the ball to Asad Ali at mid-off; and then the same combination were in the thick of it again to send back captain Lahiru Thirimanne, as the Maroons slipped to 55 for 3 in the 10th over. Despite his best efforts, Sangakkara was unable to emulate Misbah's heroics as the required rate continued to climb.
Sangakkara (44 in 36 balls) fell in the 15th over with the score at 83 when Ammar Mahmood caught him at deep fine leg off Imran Khalid's bowling. Sangakkara's dismissal put the Wolves in the driving seat and despite Chamara Silva's dogged knock and Milinda Siriwardana's late pyrotechnics, the target proved to be beyond the Maroons.
Adil (3-26) and Khalid (2-27) were the most successful of the Wolves' bowlers, while Saeed Ajmal finished with 4-0-33-0.
Earlier, Misbah came into the middle with the score at 20 for 2 after Nuwan Kulasekara had Ali Waqas caught behind by Sangakkara for a golden duck in the first over, and the same combination then accounted for Asif Ali in the fourth over. Mahmood, who had two near escapes in the first over, finally saw his luck run out when he hit a short of length Dilhara delivery straight to Upul Tharanga at mid-on.
Misbah, who had scored 46 and 56* in the Wolves' previous two matches, was understandably cautious at the start of his innings, but ensured the scoreboard kept ticking along. But, the Wolves' skipper wasn't afraid to play his shots and hit left-arm spinner Siriwardana for two sixes; the first of which almost cost Misbah his wicket when he was only on 1. Fortunately, for the Wolves and Misbah, the long-off fielder only managed to palm the ball over the boundary rope.
But, just when it appeared the Wolves were putting together a partnership, Ajantha Mendis trapped Khurram Shehzad plumb in front, to leave the Pakistan team struggling at 56 for 4 in the 10th over.
Dilhara (3-21) was the most successful Maroons' bowler, while Lahiru Jayaratne (4-0-13-0) was the most economical. Jayaratne also took a spectacular catch diving backwards near the boundary to end Salman's innings.
Earlier, Kandurata Maroons have won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Kandurata made 2 changes; Lokuarachchi and Jayasuriya are not playing. Milinda Siriwardana in. Faisalabad remained unchanged.
Teams
Kandurata: Upul Tharanga, Thilina Kandamby, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne (Captain), Chamara Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suraj Randiv, Lahiru Jayaratne, Ajantha Mendis
Faisalabad: Ammar Mahmood, Ali Waqas, Asif Ali, Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Imran Khalid, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Salman (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Ehsan Adil, Asad Ali, Samiullah Khan
Brief scores
Faisalabad Wolves 146 for 6 (Misbah 93*, Lokuhettige 3-21)
Kandurata Maroons 136 for 7 (Sangakkara 44, Adil 3-25)
Result Faisalabad Wolves won by 10 runs
Points Faisalabad Wolves 4, Kandurata Maroons 0
MOM Misbah-ul-Haq (Faisalabad Wolves)
