Dubai: The Sagittarius Strikers will have to be at their very best if they want to stop the Gemini Arabians’ juggernaut in the first semi-final of the Masters Champions League (MCL) at Dubai Sports City on Thursday.
Boosted by a swashbuckling 134 from 64 balls by skipper Virender Sehwag, the Arabians managed to scamper home in a high-scoring encounter in Sharjah last Friday. While Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara’s brisk 52 constituted the bulk of the total, Caribbean Krishmar Santokie’s five-wicket haul for 30 runs went in vain for Sagittarius as the Arabians maintained their unbeaten record with a 12-run win.
Left-arm Santokie proved to be the tormentor for the Arabians as he claimed four wickets in as many deliveries of his final over to top the bowling, but it proved a bit too late as the bowler from the West Indies managed to arrest the smooth flow of runs removing Sangakkara, Justin Kemp, Brad Hodge and Rana Naved-Ul-Hasan in a jiffy.
The Strikers’ reply began on a wrong note when they lost Adam Gilchrist in the second ball of the inning. However, Imran Farhat (51), Yasir Hameed (41) and Yasir Arafat (32) brought the Strikers within striking distance of the total. Shane Bond and Santokie, unbeaten on 12 and 23 in quick time, nearly took the Strikers past the total.
“That was a close one. It could have gone either way as their batsmen nearly pulled it off,” Gilchrist admitted after the match.
“There is no big secret. We just need to continue the way we are playing and we can beat any side,” he added.
Doing well with the batting in the five group matches, Sehwag was wary of the Strikers’ bowling attack. “Of course, a lot depends on the wicket in Dubai. The fact is that we have to keep our momentum going even though they have some good bowlers in their side [Shane Bond, Daniel Vettori and Santokie]. What we have done in the past five matches really does not matter when we play on Thursday,” Sehwag said.
“We have done well so far and everything has clicked for us. We need to just stay focused and go for the kill in the last two games,” he added.
Semi-final: (7.30pm) Gemini Arabians versus Sagittarius Strikers
Live telecast on Ten Sports
