CAPE TOWN — In-form Sydney Sixers produced a clinical all-round performance and romped to a crushing eight-wicket win over Yorkshire in their Champions League Twenty20 match here Tuesday. Sixers chased down the paltry target of 97 with 67 deliveries to spare after Yorkshire opted to bat at the Newlands. The English outfit was earlier restricted to 96 for nine in its allotted 20 overs. This was Sixers' second win of the tournament, the first was against the IPL outfit Chennai Super Kings Sunday. Left—arm pacer Mitchell Starc was the star of the day as he returned impressive figures of three for 22. In pursuit of a small total, opener Michael Lumb led the way with a quick-fire 24—ball 43. His knock was studded with eight fours and he was there in the middle when the winning runs were scored. Skipper Brad Haddin chipped in with a 41—run knock off 21 balls. It was always going to be a herculean task for Yorkshire after its batsmen were done in by the Aussie pacers, with Starc leading the way. Scores: Sydney Sixers 98 for 2 (Lumb 43 not out, Haddin 41) beat Yorkshire 96 for 9 (Root 25, Starc 3-22) by eight wickets. Auckland thrashes KKR On Monday, Kolkata Knight Riders' chances of making the semifinals of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament suffered a major blow as they slumped to their second successive defeat after losing to Auckland Aces by seven wickets in a Group A match. Auckland rode high on veteran Azhar Mahmood's superb all-round show as it knocked off a modest target of 138 runs with 14 balls to spare. Mahmood, who was instrumental in restricting KKR to 137 for six with brilliant figures of 3 for 16, also produced an unbeaten knock of 51 runs, which turned out to be crucial in the final outcome of the match at the New Wanderers stadium. Man-of-the-match Mahmood afterwards paid tribute to the Aucklanders' solid team effort. “We bowled really well as a unit,” he said. “Martin Guptill and Louie started off really well and I was able to finish off. Hopefully I can keep my form going.” Auckland qualified for the main draw with a six-wicket defeat of Pakistan's Sialkot Stallions followed by an eight-wicket defeat of English county side Hampshire. Scores: Auckland Aces 139 for 3 (Mahmood 51 not out) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 137 for 6 (McCullum 40, Mahmood 3-16) by seven wickets. — Agencies
