Sydney Sixers win T20 thriller

Published: Saturday | October 27, 2012 Comments 0
Sydney Sixers' batsman Pat Cummins (right) falls on the ground as he completes the winning run as teammate Mitchell Starc (left) looks on during the semi-final of their Champions League Twenty20 cricket match at the Centurion Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, yesterday. Sydney Sixers beat Titans by two wickets off the last ball of the match. - AP
Sydney Sixers' batsman Pat Cummins (right) falls on the ground as he completes the winning run as teammate Mitchell Starc (left) looks on during the semi-final of their Champions League Twenty20 cricket match at the Centurion Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, yesterday. Sydney Sixers beat Titans by two wickets off the last ball of the match. - AP

CENTURION, South Africa (AP):

Sydney Sixers scrambled through to the Champions League Twenty20 final with a single off the last ball to beat the Titans by two wickets yesterday and set up a tournament decider against the Lions.

Tailender Pat Cummins missed the final delivery but still made it to the non-striker's end for a desperate bye to drag Australia's Sixers to 164-8 and just past the Titans' 163-5.

Sydney prevented an all-South African final at Wanderers tomorrow but only after a topsy-turvy battle at the Titans' home ground of Supersport Park, where the Sixers twice let a dominant position slip before Cummins crawled home on his knees at the very end for the winning run in the second semi-final.

"We panicked a bit, I think, but we are going to the final," Sydney captain Brad Haddin said.

The Lions qualified for the final on Thursday when they successfully defended their 139-5 against Kevin Pietersen's Delhi Daredevils.

Delhi could only manage 117-9 in reply as the challenge of the last remaining IPL team ended in the first semi-final in Durban despite Pietersen's 50 from 44 balls.

Solid total

The Lions have a chance at a first South African victory in the Champions League at their home stadium in Johannesburg, while Sydney can repeat Australia's success of 2009 when New South Wales Blues won the title.

Sydney had the Titans 82-5 in the 14th over yesterday but David Wiese bludgeoned 61 from 28 balls from No. 7 to give the home team a solid total in Centurion.

Sydney also dominated the early part of their innings and raced to 54-0 inside five overs through an early onslaught from openers Steve O'Keefe and Michael Lumb. Sydney were then on course for victory at 85-1 after eight overs, but again let the Titans back in.

The Titans took 6-47 in the middle part of the innings before Moises Henriques hit two sixes in his 28 from 18 to get the Sixers within sight of victory, with the game swinging back and forth throughout.

Even then, Sydney still required eight off the last over and one off the last delivery.

Cummins (14 not out) played and missed that, but managed to make his ground at the other end for the match-winning run despite tripping over bowler CJ de Villiers and having to crawl the final few paces as wicketkeeper Heino Kuhn's throw flashed wide.

"The bottom line is we have a final to play this Sunday," Haddin said.

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