Defending champions Mumbai Indians paid the price for an indifferent showing and crashed out of the Champions League T20 after being beaten by New Zealand's Northern Knights by six wickets in the final qualifying round match in Raipur, on Tuesday.
Joining Northern Knights in the main round was Pakistan's Lahore Lions, who won two of their three matches after trouncing Sri Lanka’s Southern Express by 55 runs in an earlier match on Tuesday.
Mumbai Indians had the ignominy of being the first ever defending champions in six editions to be ousted in the preliminary round.
The Lions are first team from Pakistan to qualify for the CLT20 main round.
Put in to bat, Mumbai Indians scored a below par 132 for nine in 20 overs, as none of their batsmen could score big on a pitch that aided medium pacers.
Tim Southee and Scott Styris took three wickets each.
Mumbai Indians' batting floundered yet again. Save skipper Kieron Pollard, who scored 31 off 24 balls, none of the batsmen displayed enough firepower against a disciplined Northern Knights' bowling attack which used the sluggish pitch to good effect.
It was young Shreyas Gopal, who smashed 24 off 12 balls, who took Mumbai past the 130-run mark.
While 39-year-old Styris (3-21) had best figures among the bowlers, it was Southee (3-24) who was both deadly and economical in his first three overs before being taken apart by Gopal in the final over of the innings.
In reply, Kane Williamson (53 off 36 balls) presented copybook technique with calculated assault. An opening partnership of 83 with left-hander Anton Devcich was enough to seal the issue for the 'Pink Panthers' in only 17.2 overs.
Devcich scored 39 as batting became easier during second half with dew factor coming into play.
It was a treat to watch Williamson batting. Dubbed as a player for the longer version of the game, the young Black Caps batsman showed the virtue of proper technique as he repeatedly charged down the track to the spinners, reaching to the pitch of the deliveries while playing the lofted shot.
His second 50 in the tournament came off 32 balls as he reached the landmark with a straight six and a four off Harbhajan Singh's bowling. He hit seven boundaries and a six before an uppish drive off a Jasprit Bumrah delivery was taken by Pollard at short cover.
BJ Watling was then out when Harbhajan plucked a catch out off thin air off Bumrah's bowling, but, by then, Northern Knights were well on course to the target.
