Otago Volts vs Faisalabad Wolves: Q1 - Match Report

A measured innings by Brendon McCullum steered the Otago Volts to a convincing eight-wicket victory over the Faisalabad Wolves in the opening match of the Karbonn Smart CLT20 2013 Qualifiers. After restricting the Wolves to 139/8, the Volts knocked off the required runs in 17.5 overs to take a step closer to booking a place in the main draw of the tournament.

The Volts innings began on a poor note as they lost opener Neil Broom off the second ball of the run-chase. But they snatched back the initiative through Hamish Rutherford’s cameo; the 24-year-old left-hander struck three sixes and a boundary as he raced to 25 off 12 balls, before miscuing a Saeed Ajmal delivery to be caught at midwicket. Rutherford dominated the 41-run stand with skipper McCullum.

Meanwhile, McCullum paced his innings brilliantly; he scored 29 from his first 35 balls to set a solid platform. And just as the required run-rate breached the eight-run mark, he opened his shoulders. Offered a life on 41, he struck nine fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 83 – his last 54 runs came off just 30 balls. Fittingly, he sealed the match for his team when he picked Asad Ali’s slower delivery early and hit it for a boundary through cover point.

For the Wolves, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal finished with impressive figures of one for 23 from his four overs. Samiullah Khan (1/18) was the only other wicket-taker in the innings.

Earlier in the evening, Wolves skipper, Misbah-ul-Haq, won the toss and opted to take first strike. Though Ammar Mahmood got the innings – and the tournament itself – off to a cracking start by hitting a boundary off the very first delivery, he did not last long as he found the point fielder at the start of the second over. The Wolves lost the wickets of Ali Waqas and Asif Ali shortly thereafter and were reduced to 34/3. No.3 batter Khurram Shehzad and Misbah then collaborated to revive the innings; the fourth-wicket pair added 61 runs in 7.4 overs, before Shehzad found the man at mid-off.

Though the Wolves scored 44 runs in the final quarter of the innings, they could not force the pace as much as they could have because they lost four wickets in that period. Innings top-scorer Misbah, playing his 100th Twenty20 match, was dismissed for a well-compiled 46 (off 34 balls) at the end of the 17th over. 

For the Volts, barring Nathan McCullum, all the other bowlers returned with respectable figures. Ian Butler, James McMillan and James Neesham picked up two wickets apiece, while left-arm seamer Neil Wagner picked up one wicket.

Score Card: 

Man of the Match: Brendon McCullum for his unbeaten 65-ball 83.

McCullum: "The wicket had some pace and bounce and it was more like an Australian or New Zealand wicket. It's great to get a result, the last time we were here we weren't that far away from achieveing and we've learnt many lessons since then."

Misbah: "I think they bowled well but we couldn't get the start we wanted. It was a nice pitch to bat on I reckon we were about 25-30 runs short."

source:clt20.com