Northern pack off Mumbai Indians

Defending champs exit after six-wicket defeat; Lahore Lions qualify

Defending champions Mumbai Indians paid the price for their indifferent show, crashing out of the Champions League T20 after a six-wicket defeat to Northern Knights from New Zealand in their final qualifying round match here this evening.

Along with Northern, Pakistan’s Lahore Lions, who won two of their three matches, qualified for the tournament proper while MI had the ignominy of being the first ever defending champions to be ousted in the preliminary round. Lions are the first team from Pakistan to qualify for CLT20 main round.

Mumbai Indians, put into bat, scored a below par 132 for nine in 20 overs with none of their batsmen scoring big on a pitch that aided medium pacers. Tim Southee and Scott Styris took three wickets apiece.

In reply, Kane Williamson (53 off 36 balls) launched a calculated assault in an opening partnership of 83 with left-hander Anton Devcich, sealing the issue for the ‘Pink Panthers’ in only 17.2 overs. Devcich scored 39 as batting became easier during second half with dew factor coming into play.

Williamson’s batting was a treat to watch. Dubbed as a player for longer versions, the young Black Caps batsman showed the virtue of proper technique as he repeatedly danced down the track to spinners to play lofted shots. His second 50 of the tournament came off 32 balls as he reached the landmark with a straight six and a four off Harbhajan Singh’s bowling.

In all, Williamson, hit seven boundaries and a six before his uppish drive of Jasprit Bumrah delivery was taken by Pollard at short cover. BJ Watling was out when Harbhajan plucked a catch off Bumrah’s bowling but by then Northern were well on course to reach the target.

Earlier, Mumbai batting floundered as they could manage only 132 for nine in a match they had to win to qualify. Barring skipper Kieron Pollard, who scored 31 off 24 balls, none of the Mumbai Indians batsmen could prosper against a disciplined Northern bowling attack. It was young Shreyas Gopal, who smashed 24 off 12 balls, who finally took MI past 130-run mark.

While 39-year-old Styris (3/21) had the best figures among the bowlers, it was Southee (3/24) who proved both deadly and economical in his first three overs before Gopal took him apart in the final over of the innings. Mike Hussey (7), Jalaj Saxena (10), Lendl Simmons (13), Ambati Rayudu (6) and Aditya Tare (7) all fell without any substantial contribution, unable to tackle the Northern bowlers.
Mumbai were struggling at 46 for five before Pollard  and Harbhajan stemmed the rot briefly with a 29-run stand but it was certainly not enough. Pollard did manage to hit a big six off Kuggeleijn and a couple of boundaries but was nowhere near his destructive best with little support from the other end.