-batsman hustles Bushrangers to seven wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore ending the match in sensational fashion with three consecutive sixes
BANGALORE, India, CMC – Victoria took their first step towards the semi-finals of the Twenty20 Champions League when they whipped Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets yesterday.
They restricted the hosts to 127 for six off their allotted 20 overs and then reached to 133 for three with 25 balls remaining.
Royal Challengers were undermined by medium pacer Andrew McDonald who grabbed four for 21 to nip a potential run spree in the bud.
Openers Manish Pandey slammed 39 from 28 balls with seven fours and Robin Uthappa scored 13 from 12 deliveries, to give Royal Challengers a rousing start of 39 from 28 balls.
But McDonald started his rout when he had Pandey caught and bowled at 60 for two in the ninth over and he proceeded to grab the wickets of Virat Kohli (6), Ross Taylor (2) and top scorer Rahul Dravid (33) as Royal Challengers lost four wickets for 39 runs in the space of 45 balls.
In response, Victoria were never in trouble as they cruised to 48 from 39 balls for the first wicket, with openers Rob Quiney (29) and Brad Hodge (25) in total command.
Aiden Blizzard (21) then shared a further 47 for the second wicket with Quiney before David Hussey smashed two fours and reeled off three successive sixes to guide his side home with an unbeaten 31 from 15 balls.
