CL T20 Qualifier: Yorkshire beat Uva Next by five wickets

Johannesburg : England’s Yorkshire defeated Uva Next of Sri Lanka by five wickets in the opening game of the Champions League Twenty20 qualifying tournament at the Wanderers Stadium here Tuesday.

Yorkshire chased down Uva Next’s 150 for seven in 19.3 overs, thanks to David Miller (39 n.o) and Adil Rashid (36 n.o). Phil Jaques chipped in with 32 at the top of the order.

It was brave of Miller to come back towards the end after being hit on the face by Uva’s Pakistani fast bowler Umar Gul.

The South-African returned to the crease with Yorkshire needing 18 off 10 balls. He smashed 15 off the next four balls to seal the issue with off-spinner Dilshan Munaweera (3-32) looking on in disbelief.

Miller got good support from Rashid, who was named player of the match for his all-round performance. The leg-spinner had taken a wicket in Uva’s innings.

Uva did well to reach 150 after losing six wickets for 121 by the 17th over. Munaweera (22), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (24), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (27) and captain Thilina Kandamby (29 n.o) were the main contributors to the total.

Yorkshire play Trinidad and Tobago in Pool 2 Wednesday before the Caribbean unit takes on Uva Thursday.

The two pool-toppers in the qualifier will play in the 10-team main event beginning Saturday.