Cape Cobras captain Andrew Puttick can scarcely believe the events of the past week.
He was not supposed to be involved in the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 until Graeme Smith was ruled out by injury, yet on Saturday he hit a dazzling century to secure his team's passage to the second round.
The Cobras registered their second successive, defeating New Zealand's Otago Volts by 54 runs in Hyderabad - Puttick making an unbeaten 104 off just 62 deliveries to post a massive target of 194.
Seamer Rory Kleinveldt then wrecked the Volts' chase with a three-wicket haul, and three of the top five batsmen were run out.
Puttick said: "I am very happy with the way the boys came back tonight with the ball. But to get a century tops all that.
"About a week ago I would never have imagined this, because I wasn't coming to India. It's really good. But we have a long way to go in this competition, and we have to keep our feet on the ground.
"We were a little shaky the other night against the Royal Challengers. But our fielding has improved tremendously, and I'm very happy with the way we performed.
"It's the first step accomplished, but the hard work really starts now."
Volts captain Craig Cumming was disappointed with the defeat and knows a tough match is in the offing next against the Royal Challengers.
"I thought if we restricted them to 160-170 it would have been a good score," he said.
"We started off confidently, but three run-outs in the top five really did us in. We play in Bangalore on Monday and we now know what we need to do to stay in this competition."
The winner of that match will join the Cobras in the second round.
Subscribe in a reader
No comments:
Post a Comment