Haddin, Starc help Sixers get closer to last four

Sydney Sixers produced a clinical all-round performance and romped to a crushing eight-wicket win over Yorkshire in their Champions League Twenty20. 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 their allotted 20 overs.

This was Sixers' second win of the tournament, the first was against the IPL outfit Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc was the star of the day as he returned impressive figures of three for 22 on a pitch where there was no major demons, making the batsmen's job much easier even before the chase had begun.

In pursuit of a small total, opener Michael Lumb led the way with a quickfire 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, which came off just 21 balls, and was laced with eight hits to the fence. It was always going to be a herculean task for Yorkshire after their batsmen were done in by the Aussie pacers, with Starc leading the way.

Playing probably in his last match after Cricket Australia decided to pull him out of the tournament in view of the upcoming Test series against world number one South Africa, Shane Watson picked up two for 27 from his four overs. The figures were even better for Pat Cummins as the young pacer was measly in his four-over spell in which he conceded just 13 runs while claiming two wickets.

Yorkshire needed to bowl out of their skins to defend such a small total, and even needed Sydney to have a poor day with the bat. But that was not to be as the Australians cruised past the target in just 8.5 overs.

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