JOHANNESBURG – Highveld Lions defeated Yorkshire comfortably by five wickets in a Group B encounter of the ongoing Champions League Twenty20 here Saturday. The Lions victory means both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are out of the tournament. The Lions, with three wins from four games, have now joined Sydney Sixers as the other team from Group B in the semifinals. Both the teams have 12 points in their kitty. A victory for Yorkshire against Lions could have opened up the group, but now the three IPL teams Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata Knight Riders have bowed out of the event. Opting to bowl, the Lions first restricted Yorkshire to a modest 131 for seven and then chased down the target, reaching 134 for five, with four balls to spare. Young Quinton de Cock top-scored for the Lions with 32 that came off 35 balls with the help of two fours and as many sixes. Even though the Lions panicked a little bit towards the end, Jean Symes (27 not out off 22) and Dwaine Pretorious (25 off 14) played useful cameos to take side home. Earlier, skipper Andrew Gale (21) and Phil Jacques (31) shared 54 runs for the opening stand before Yorkshire's innings fell apart. Adam Lyth (21) and Gary Ballance (17) also made useful contributions but it was not good enough to take the English outfit to a challenging score. Recalled England batsman Kevin Pietersen was robbed of much-needed batting practice Friday when the match was washed out. Pietersen was part of the Delhi Daredevils team scheduled to play Auckland Aces in the Indian Ocean city, but steady rain over three hours forced the organizers to concede defeat 70 minutes before the cut-off time. — Agencies
