Klinger sparkles on world stage
SOUTH Australian batsman Michael Klinger was a controversial choice to captain the Redbacks at the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa.
SOUTH Australian batsman Michael Klinger was a controversial choice to captain the Redbacks at the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa.
Despite replacing Graham Manou as captain of the Redbacks’ Sheffield Shield and Ford Ranger Cup sides at the start of the 2009/10 season, the 30-year-old was overlooked for the domestic Twenty20 squad, which went on to finish second and win a place in the Champions League.
But Klinger has silenced the doubters with a blazing start to the Redbacks’ South African campaign, and is now the competition’s leading run scorer following back-to-back half-centuries.
The former Bushranger sent an emphatic message to the South Australian selectors with a scintillating 78 from just 48 deliveries against South African side the Lions on Monday, a knock that included six boundaries and five sixes.
On Wednesday, he was at it again, hitting 50 from 48 balls and sharing in a 112-run opening stand to reel in a massive 182, posted by the highly fancied Mumbai Indians, led by little master Sachin Tendulkar.
The boilover was the shock result of the tournament so far, with Klinger’s men reeling in the massive total against a cashed-up, star-studded side that boasts players such as part-time Redback and short-format dynamo Kieron Pollard, champion Indian offy Harbhajan Singh, West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, South African young gun JP Duminy and Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, probably the best fast bowler in world Twenty20.
The results are a massive fillip for the Redbacks, which get US $500,000 simply for turning up, a further US$200,000 if they are eliminated at the group stage, $US500,000 if they are knocked out in the semifinals, US$1.3 million for a second-placed finish and a whopping US$2.5 million for the win.
Klinger was named man-of-the-match for his heroics against the Lions, and his side now needs just one more win from its remaining two matches in the group stage to shore up its spot in the semifinals.
The Redbacks take on another Indian Premier League side in the Bangalore Royal Challengers on Saturday morning.
ADAM KAMIEN
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