Warriors beat Stags to enter Semis

 Elizabeth: Ashwell Prince and Davey Jacobs put on 147 runs for the first wicket as the Warriors beat Central Stags by six wickets in match 12 of the 2010 Champions League T20 competition at Port Elizabeth.

The team from South africa have thus assured themselves of a semi final berth.

Earlier Jamie How's second successive half century helped Central Stags survive an early loss, and a quiet period of play against the spinners, to finish with 175 in their must-win game against the Warriors.

How was supported by an inventive burst from Kieran Noema-Barnett in the end overs, setting Warriors a challenging target in front of their home crowd.

Stags elected to bat first after winning the toss and lost Peter Ingram in the very first over the match for nought.

However, How was in an aggressive mode from the word go as he thrashed the bowlers all around the park in his innings of 88 from just 57 balls. How hit 12 boundaries and three huge sixes in his blinder of an innings.

Brad Patton joined in the fun at the other end, using Tsotsobe's pace and Ntini's angles to pick boundaries and scored a handy 24 in 18 balls before he was judged lbw to Nicky Boje. The Powerplay went for 63 runs.

But introduction of two spinners Nicky Boje and Johan Botha slowed the run rate and in the process Boje picked up his second wicket getting rid of the out-of-form Mathew Sinclair.

The double-strike forced How to downshift a gear but How soon sensed the need of runs and resumed his normal services hitting Nicky Boje and Ntini all around the park.

Kieran Noema-Barnett who joined How took centre stage in the late overs as his cameo of 53 from 34 balls was a treat for the spectators in the stadium.

Bushrangers look to hunt the Stags

Centurion: After a 28-run loss in the opener that is sure to have dented Victoria Bushrangers' pride, the champion T20 side from Australia will be hungry for success when they take on trans-Tasman rivals Central Stags in their second game here at the Centurion on Wednesday.

The Bushrangers were left shell-shocked by South African club Warriors who played out of their skins to upset the Aussie team, who are a pedigreed T20 lot having won the KFC Big Bash on four out of the five occasions.

The Australian team, who were among the favourites in the first edition last year before they lost in the last four stage to eventual champions New South Wales Blues, need a win to keep their hopes alive in this tournament. Another loss on Wednesday means that they will need to win their remaining two games to make it to the last four stage.

On paper they are definitely stronger than the Stags, but they will be cautious knowing full well that overconfidence will do them more harm than good. The Stags too are coming off a crushing defeat at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings, who beat them by 57 runs on Sunday and face the ominous task of facing up to the Bushrangers' strong bowling attack.

At the top of the order, Peter Ingram, Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair will have to get the Stags off to a good start if they do not repeat of their collapse against Chennai where their individual scores put together read more like a telephone number.

On the other hand, the Bushrangers too will have to ensure that their batsmen keep their cool. Most of the top order batsmen managed to get starts in the last game, but fell just when it seemed that a partnership was being strung together.

A must-win game for both teams, the losing side can kiss their chances of a semi-final finish goodbye.