Clinical New South Wales Blues thrashed Victorian Bushrangers by 79 runs to book their place in the Champions League Twenty20 final. After putting a decent total on the board, Blues' bowlers restricted Bushrangers to 90/9 in 20 overs.
Moises Henriques (3-11), Brett Lee (2-15) and Nathan Hauritz (2-25) claimed wickets at regular intervals as Victorian batsmen failed to find their feet on the tricky Feroz Shah Kotla.
New South Wales Blues will either face Trinidad and Tobago or Cape Cobras, who will clash in the second semi-final at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium tomorrow.
Earlier, NSW Blues scored 169 runs for seven wickets against Victoria Bushrangers in the first semi-final of the Champions League Twenty20. Openers Philip Hughes (35) and David Warner (48) gave the Blues a good start adding 62 runs off 41 balls.
Contributions from Daniel Smith (20) and Simon Katich (26) then took the Blues to a competitive total. Clint McKay was the pick of the bowlers, claiming three wickets for 27 runs.
Wary of chasing at Kotla, NSW captain Simon Katich opted to bat first and the in-form left-handed duo of Hughes and Warner walked out to vindicate the decision.
Shane Harwood's measly first over, yielding just one run, was merely the lull before the storm with Warner in the thick of action. Warner welcomed Harwood on his return with back-to-back fours but worse awaited Peter Siddle.
Warner hit the first two balls from Siddle for boundaries and a dot ball later, lifted him over long-off ropes. Siddle bled 19 runs in that forgettable over. Siddle bore the brunt of Warner's wrath, copping back-to-back boundaries as NSW crossed the 50-mark in the sixth over.
Warner was in no mood to relent and the way he treated the Victorian bowlers, it was clear that none of them could remove him. The swashbuckling left-hander returned run out in the seventh over, having dominated in the 62-run opening stand.
Hughes decided to continue the tempo and milked 13 runs off Jon Holland's first over before a Clint McKay slower delivery castled him. Hughes needed 28 balls to score those 35 brisk runs that included four fours and a six.
Neither Daniel Smith (20) nor Katich (26) boast Warner's aggression but both scored quickly enough to haul the team past the 100-mark in 11 overs before both fell in a nine-ball span.
Andrew McDonald and Harwood stemmed the run flow with some disciplined bowling as NSW somewhat ran out of steam towards the end despite having the platform to go for the late charge that could have further swelled the tally.
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