Smuts Leads Warriors in Big Win Against Redbacks

Hyderabad: Redbacks batsmen failed to rise to the occasion as the Australian outfit succumbed to a 50-run defeat against Warriors in their CLT20 clash in Hyderabad.

Warriors Lonwabo Tsotsobe took two wickets to put Redbacks on the backfoot. Tsotsobe was bang on target as he got the wicket of opener Daniel Harris and then dug in a short ball to Tom Cooper, who played straight into his hands.

In the first innings, Warriors opener JJ Smuts scored a fluent 88 to power his team to 171/5 against the Australian outfit at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Opener Smuts gave the Warriors the kind of start they would have wanted. Right from the start he was on fire and slammed a fluent half century.

But Ashwell Prince failed to impress in this match as Redbacks strike bowler Shaun Tait proved his worth by getting the wicket of the left-hander by castling his stumps.

Earlier, Warriors captain Johan Botha won the toss and elected to bat against South Australia Redbacks.

Warriors straight away sounded warning bells for the other sides by chasing down an imposing target of 173, set by Bangalore in their opening match.

Their strength is the deep batting line-up with skipper Johan Botha coming as late as number six and still scoring a match-winning knock along with opener Ashwell Prince.

While Warriors are a star studded side with the likes of Prince, Colin Inagram and Mark Boucher in their ranks, Redbacks have only one established name in paceman Shaun Tait.

Yet, Redbacks are a young side and expected to give the Warriors a good fight.

Callum Ferguson has the experience of playing international cricket as he has done national duty for Australia in 30 ODIs and the side would look up to him for an all-round performance.

Nathan Lyon, who rose from a groundsman to Test bowler, is another player to watch out.

Lyon did well in Sri Lanka in his debut series and with wickets in India being spin-friendly, the off-spinner has good opportunity to further enhance his reputation.

Brief scores
Warriors 171 for 5 (Smuts 88, Harris 2-23)
South Australia 121 for 6 (Klinger 34, Tsotsobe 2-30)
Results Warriors won by 50 runs
MOM JJ Smuts (Warriors)
Points Warriors 2, South Australia 0

Scores	Upcoming	Results
Australia vs India - 4th Test South Africa vs Pakistan - 1st Test Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan - 1st Test 1st T20I - New Zealand v Sri Lanka - December 28, 06:15 GMT 2nd T20I - New Zealand v Sri Lanka - December 30, 06:15 GMT 3rd ODI - South Africa v Pakistan at Johannesburg Pakistan won by 36 runs (DLS method) 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining)

Related links

Champions League Twenty20 2011 News

Mumbai Indians Wins Champions League 2011 [+]

Harbhajan Singh-led Mumbai Indians thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 31 runs to win the third edition of Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

CLT20 Final - It's Gayle vs Malinga, Kohli vs Harbhajan [+]

Royal Challengers Bangalore, whose success revolves around Gayle, Kohli and Dilshan, are the overwhelming favourites against Mumbai Indians in the CLT20 final.

Malinga, Franklin Bowls Mumbai Into CLT20 Final [+]

Mummai Indian beat Somerset in the second semi-final of the Champions League. They've made the final an all-IPL affair, as Royal Challengers Bangalore had qualified yesterday.

Mumbai Gear up For Somerset Challenge, Pollard Fit for Semi-final [+]

Mumbai Indians will bank on their familiarity with the conditions to fight through another tough challenge when they take on Somerset in the CLT20 semifinal.

RCB Crush NSW, Reached into CLT20 Final [+]

Chris Gayle (92) and Virat Kohli (84*) played stupendous knocks to take Royal Challengers Bangalore into the Champions League Twenty20 final.

Indian Challengers Take on Aussies Blues [+]

Just who will reap the rich harvest for the all the hard labour put in, will be unravelled when Bangalore take on New South Wales in the first semifinal of CLT20.

Dilshan, Kohli Power RCB Into Semis [+]

Tillakaratne Dilshan (74) and Virat Kohli (70) guided Royal Challengers to clinch a stunning two wickets victory over South Australia in their CLT20 match.

Somerset Through to Semifinals Beat Warriors [+]

English county Somerset entered the semi-finals of the Champions League Twenty20 with a 12-run win over Warriors of South Africa at the Chinnaswamy stadium here Wednesday.

Fights for Semifinal Spot Between RCB and Redbacks [+]

A buoyant Royal Challengers will cross swords with South Australia Redbacks as the race for the semifinal spots in the Champions League T20 intensifies.

Warriors and Somerset Clash with Semifinal Berth at Stake [+]

With a semifinal spot at stake, South Africa's Warriors and England's Somerset will clash in a make-or-break Champions League Twenty20 match in Bangalore.