da roleta： New South Wales scrambled to elimination final victory over a doughty Queensland in Blacktown to set-up the domestic limited overs decider against Western Australia at the SCG on Sunday.
da fezbet： Daniel Brettig24-Oct-2014
ScorecardPat Cummins struck the winning boundary in a nervy chase•Getty Images
New South Wales scrambled to elimination final victory over a doughty Queensland in Blacktown to set-up the domestic limited overs decider against Western Australia at the SCG on Sunday.The Blues seemed destined to win from the time Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott combined to reduce the Bulls to 5 for 68 early in the afternoon, but scrapping innings by James Hopes and Ben Cutting ensured a reasonable target before some tight bowling kept the match open.The returning Shane Watson was one of several Blues to squander a start, and it took a bold and occasionally fortunate stand of 52 between Ryan Carters and Pat Cummins to separate the sides. Even then a pair of wickets in the final over made for a nervous finish.Hopes won the toss on a sun-dappled day but Hazlewood quickly demonstrated the skill that had the selector Mark Waugh trumping him as a possible Test bowler later this summer. Usman Khawaja’s absence due to a thumb fracture was a major loss for the Bulls, and Hazlewood defeated Joe Burns and Chris Hartley to widen the breach.Abbott’s bowling action is naturally disposed towards reverse swing, and on a dry, abrasive surface he was soon bending the ball into Queensland’s right-handers with two short midwickets. The debutant Ben McDermott and Peter Forrest both fell to this trap, before the Australian Twenty20 recruit Nathan Reardon lost his off stump.Those wickets left a major salvage job for Hopes, but with the help of Cutting he managed to lift the Bulls to a total that was competitive rather than daunting. The NSW chase was characterised by handy partnerships, but regular wickets kept Queensland interested throughout.When Peter George winkled out Ben Rohrer and Abbott in consecutive balls the Bulls could claim to hold the ascendancy for the first time all match, but Carters demonstrated the finishing skill he has developed over the tournament in the company of Cummins, who had the white-knuckle finish to the 2011 Johannesburg Test match against South Africa by way of relevant experience.A dozen runs from the 48th over reduced the equation to eight runs from 12 balls, and only two were required from Luke Feldman’s last. But Carters was pouched at mid-on and Gurinder Sandhu run out before Cummins sliced the winning runs down to third man. The Warriors await.
