Champions League T20: Alviro Petersen rap for Royal Challengers Bangalore

Alviro Petersen smashed a 29-ball 45 while Robert Frylinck provided the late charge as Lions posted a competitive 159 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a Champions League Twenty20 match here on Tuesday. Skipper Petersen clubbed three fours and two sixes and added 44 runs in 26 balls with Vaughn van Jaarsveld (24) for the third wicket after electing to bat.

Neil McKenzie (39) also played his part in the middle order but it was Frylinck’s 22 runs in nine balls which took Lions across the 150-mark at the New Wanderers here. Frylinck hit one boundary and two sixes in his cameo, adding 19 runs in seven deliveries with Thami Tsolekile (5) in the slog overs.

Skipper Petersen gave Lions a flying start as he blasted Kumar to square-leg, before smashing him for a four and a six in the next over. Vandiar also played a wristy shot to bring up a four but Vinay Kumar struck twice in two balls to reduce Lions to 29 for two in 3.3 overs.

Vinay first got rid of Vandiar, while he was looking for a pull. The batsman ended up giving an easy catch to wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa. The Karnataka bowler then induced an outside edge from Richard Cameron (0) as Uthappa collected another easy catch.

Petersen and Van Jaarsveld then got together and shared 27 runs between them for the fourth wicket, which was studded with four boundaries and two sixes. Van Jaarsveld picked up successive fours in the fifth over when he blazed one along the carpet across the mid-off boundary and then clipped one behind square. In the next over, Vinay was picked up for a special treatment as both Petersen and Van Jaarsveld blasted him for sixes.

Petersen pulled one at the square leg boundary, while Van Jaarsveld heaved another over wide long on boundary. The duo also cracked boundaries off Dale Steyn in the eighth over. A confusion while running finally brought curtains down on Van Jaarsveld’s innings as Lions slipped to 73 for three in 7.5 overs. McKenzie, then slashed Du Preez for a boundary, before lofting him over wide mid-on to bring another four for the Lions.

Petersen and Mckenzie brought up the 100 in the 13th over before the Lions skipper was cleaned up by his counterpart Anil Kumble. McKenzie and Zander de Bruyn tried to keep the scoreboard ticking but runs were hard to come by. De Bruyn was dismissed by Du Preez in the 18th over, which brought Frylinck at the crease. McKenzie also perished in pursuit of a quick run but Frylinck stood tall and used his long handle to perfection to produce a whirlwind to take Lions across the 150-mark.

Scorecard
Highveld Lions: J Vandiar c Uthappa b Vinay Kumar 11, A Petersen b Kumble 45, R Cameron c Uthappa b Vinay Kumar 0, VB van Jaarsveld run out (du Preez/Steyn) 24, N McKenzie run out (Kohli/Uthappa) 39, Z de Bruyn c Kohli b du Preez 7, R Frylinck not out 22, T Tsolekile not out 5
Extras (LB2, W4) 6; (6 wickets; 20 overs) 159 (7.95 runs per over); FoW: 1-29, 2-29, 3-73, 4-100, 5-128, 6-140
Bowling: P Kumar 3-0-34-0 (1w), RV Kumar 3-0-23-2 (1w), A Kumble 4-0-13-1, D Steyn 4-0-31-0 (1w), D du Preez 3-0-32-1, V Kohli 3-0-24-0 (1w).