Hurricanes crash out of CLT20

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Hobart Hurricanes have fallen at the semi-final stage of the Oppo Champions League Twenty20, bowing out of the tournament after a seven-wicket defeat to IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

Middle-order pair Jacques Kallis (54 not out off 40) and Manish Pandey (40 off 32) combined for what was ultimately a match-winning partnership after KKR’s spin-bowling arsenal earlier restricted their opponents to 6-140 from their 20 overs.

The dramas for the Hurricanes began before a ball had even been bowled, as captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine was declared unfit to play due to illness.

Dom Michael, his uncapped replacement, was dismissed without scoring not long after fill-in captain Xavier Doherty won the toss and elected to bat, compounding the problematic opening for the BBL runners-up.

The situation only worsened in the following over, as the Hurricanes’ leading run-scorer for the tournament, Aiden Blizzard, was dismissed lbw first ball from the bowling of Yusuf Pathan.

The decision was a poor one; Blizzard clearly inside edged the ball before it struck his pad.

However without a review option, he had to go, and it left Hobart reeling at 2-13 with Ben Dunk and Shoaib Malik at the crease.

The pair looked to consolidate, with Dunk (39 from 29) dominating the scoring as his Pakistani partner found his feet slowly.

When Dunk holed out in the ninth over with the score at 3-46, and was followed back to the pavilion shortly after by Travis Birt (13) and Jonathan Wells (3), a competitive total looked beyond Hobart’s reach.

But that was to discount the quality of Malik, who shone against the spin of Sunil Narina and Piyush Chawla, a fact highlight by his team-mates’ struggles.

Together with a handy contribution from Evan Gulbis (15 off 8), Malik did his best to keep the Hurricanes in the game, blasting 21 from the 19th over and hitting the final ball of the innings for four to finish unbeaten on 66 from 46 deliveries.

Taking the new ball in reply, Ben Hilfenhaus found his customary swing early but a moving ball couldn’t prevent in-form opener Robin Uthappa finding a couple of boundaries from the first over of KKR’s innings.

At the other end, Gautam Gambhir struggled to find any fluency, and after a painful 11-ball stay, was caught at cover by Wells off the bowling of Doug Bollinger for four.

Kallis’ presence at the crease is a reassuring one for any side he’s with, and he duly steadied the ship with Uthappa, though the Hurricanes bowlers refused to let the run-rate escalate.

As the pressure built ever-so-slightly, Doherty introduced himself into the attack and snared the huge wicket of Uthappa (17 off 21).

Pandey was the next man in, fresh from a 50 in his previous innings, and the right-hander quickly stamped his class on proceedings, taking a particular liking to the midwicket region as he set about finding the boundary regularly.

Pandey did enjoy his share of luck, when Hilfenhaus tempted him into an expansive drive that he edged through to wicketkeeper Dunk, only for the bowler to be called for a front-foot no-ball by the third umpire.

The following free hit was salt into the wound, belted over mid on four four – and to make matters worse, Pandey stroked the next delivery to the fence as well.

Laughlin did finally get his man, removing an impressive Pandey for 40, but by then it was too little, too late, as Kallis put on a master-class of cool-headed finishing to get his side home with Yusuf Pathan (14 off 13).

The winning runs came from the first delivery of the final over, as Bollinger pitched short and Kallis took the bait, hooking to Hilfenhaus on the backward square leg fence who spilt the chance over the rope and sent the IPL heavyweights into Saturday’s final.