It was Mitchell Marsh’s day at the PCA stadium as the lanky Australian helped the Perth Scorchers to register a thrilling six-wicket win over Dolphins in the Champions League T20 today in Mohali.
When a team requires twelve runs off the final two deliveries the batsmen generally crumble under pressure, but Marsh displayed nerves of steel to dispatch the last two deliverers out of the park.
Perth needed 16 runs to win in the final over and Robbie Frylinck, who defended 14 in the Ram Slam final last season, gave just four runs in first four balls and picked the wicket of Ashton Agar.
Frylinck, however, failed to repeat the Ram Slam final feat and the Dolphins, much like their national team, chocked at a crucial juncture.
Marsh was instrumental in Perth’s win as he held the innings together with his unbeaten 26-ball 40. He also made a crucial 49-run partnership with Sam Whiteman (45) for the third wicket.
The all-rounder then made a 32-run partnership with Agar (15) and finished the game with Ashton Turner (3 not out) to help his side clinch all points from the rubber.
Earlier, electing to bat first, Dolphins were off to nightmare start as pacers Joel Paris and Jason Behrendorff ripped through their top-order.
After losing three quick wickets, Keshav Maharaj (29) and Khaya Zondo made a 33-run partnership for the fourth wicket and put the team on course of a recovery.
Zondo, meanwhile, anchored the innings and scored a fine unbeaten half-century and helped his team cross the 150-run mark, which at one point looked unlikely.
He made some crucial partnerships with the lower-order batsmen as the dolphins posted a competitive total on the board. However, it proved insufficient as Marsh blitz stole the victory from the South Africans.
