Captain Michael Klinger scored a third successive half-century as the South Australia Redbacks became the first team to qualify for the Champions League Twenty20 semi-finals with an eight-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday.
Klinger finished 69 not out and shared a 124-run opening partnership with Daniel Harris (57) to take South Australia to 155-2 at Kingsmead and past Bangalore’s 154 all out with nine balls to spare.
The Redbacks’ third win in three games in Group B was set up by a disciplined bowling display to restrict the Indian Premier League (IPL) team to a below-par score.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Daniel Christian took four for 23, including three wickets in the final over, and fast bowler Shaun Tait grabbed two for 23 to set up victory and a place in the last four — with one group game still to play.
Gary Putland finished with two for 37 off his four overs.
“I’m super proud of the boys today, they were all excellent,” Klinger said. “It was a good all-round display — bowling, fielding and with the bat — and I couldn’t be prouder of them. We know if we play our best we have the talent to beat everyone and the best thing is that’s what all the boys believe at the moment. It’s a really great atmosphere in the dressing room. It’s just fantastic.”
Ross Taylor and Dillon du Preez both hit 46 for Bangalore as only three batsman reached double figures for the Royal Challengers, who were without star all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who has a back injury. Cameron White made 25.
Bangalore now face a crucial game against fellow IPL team Mumbai, who have also won just once, on Sunday.
“We certainly missed Jacques Kallis today,” Bangalore captain Anil Kumble said. “Hopefully, he will be fit for that game [against Mumbai]. It’s a must-win game for both of us, so I guess it will be an entertaining game for everyone and I hope we come up trumps.”
Klinger and Harris led the Redbacks’ chase with their second 100-run partnership of the tournament.
Harris recorded his second 50 of the tournament, hitting seven fours and two sixes before he was run out by a combination of Virat Kohli and Kumble.
Klinger was dropped on 30 by Manish Pandey, who couldn’t hold a tough one-handed catch diving to his right.
The South Australia skipper went on to strike nine fours and a six in his 57-ball 69, to lead his team home. Callum Ferguson finished unbeaten on 21.
Only Graham Manou failed for South Australia, bowled by Kumble for a duck.
Batting first, Bangalore had lost wickets at regular intervals to scupper their chances of a big total in Durban.
Pandey and then Robin Uthappa’s departure made it 7-2, before Taylor led a brief revival with his knock of 46 off 28 balls.
In his first innings of the tournament, after Bangalore needed just three batsmen to see off Guyana, Taylor cut, drove and pulled balls to the boundary and looked in impressive form, but Klinger brought Tait back for a one-over burst in the ninth over and the tactic worked perfectly when the dangerous Taylor sent a thick edge to wicketkeeper Manou for the crucial breakthrough.
The muscular du Preez clubbed four sixes and a four in a 58-run stand with White — the only meaningful partnership for Bangalore, but he was the first of four wickets for Christian, who then removed Vinay Kumar, Dale Steyn and White in five balls of the final over to end the Bangalore innings.
“I thought we should have had 15 to 20 runs more and Ross Taylor’s wicket was crucial,” Kumble said.
“Dillon then got us to 150 and I thought we could have put pressure on if we had got early wickets, but they just batted us out of the game,” the Bangalore skipper said.
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