DURBAN: Asif Ali produced a performance for the ages, shellacking a 33-ball 80, as Cape Town Blitz turned the tables on Durban Heat in a stunning chase at Kingsmead.
His innings was a clinic, really, embodying all the attributes that define T20 batting: flair, skill, daring, power, and creativity of the highest order.Asif was the life jacket Blitz needed, after they had been reduced to 83 for 5 by Keshav Maharaj’s crafty left-arm spin; by the time he was finished, Asif had slashed the required rate from a hefty 12.40 to a run a ball.
An excellent 19th over by Marchant de Lange left Heat clinging on to a tiny ray of hope, but it was dashed when Kyle Abbott overpitched the first ball of the 20th and Malusi Siboto crunched a cover drive to all but seal the game.
That result looked highly unlikely when Blitz were 51 for 3 in the ninth over. The required rate was already touching 10 and this was a seaming surface. Asif dealt with his first two balls, from Maharaj, with caution, getting a feel for the surface. And then, he got down to business. It didn’t matter what the bowlers did; Asif had an answer ready. Slide it into leg: sweep; take it away outside off: reverse sweep; fire it in straight: step out and smack.
Even Maharaj, Heat’s best bowler, was not spared. He had 3 for 13 in three overs when he came back in the 15th and Asif slapped him for a four and six off his first two balls. Those hits marked the beginning of a dramatic turnaround as Blitz pillaged 52 runs in three overs. And all of those, barring a wide, came off Asif’s bat.
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