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Hussey rolls back the years

Veteran guides Mumbai to huge win

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SCORECARD: Mumbai Indians v Southern Express

SCORECARD: Northern Districts v Lahore Lions

Michael Hussey turned in a textbook Twenty20 innings to guide the Mumbai Indians to a nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka's Southern Express in the Champions League Twenty20 qualifying stage.

Set a target of 162, the Sydney Thunder skipper put on 139 runs for the first wicket with Lendl Simmons.

As Mumbai's senior player with Rohit Sharma out, Hussey played the usual level-headed innings to keep the Indian side in with a shout of qualifying for the tournament proper.

Hussey had reached 60 from 40 balls before he fell in the 15th over attempting to up Mumbai's run-rate with a slog-sweep that was caught at square leg.

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Simmons hit 11 boundaries and six in an unbeaten 76 to guide the Mumbai side home while Kieron Pollard elevated himself to No.3 and hit three sixes in seven balls to finish off the chase.

"Early on it was survival mode really. The ball was swinging and seaming around a little bit," Hussey told clt20.com.

"But, we needed a partnership at the top and Lendl batted beautifully and we had got a good partnership going. We knew that if we could get through that initial period then it would get a bit easier.

"Losing Rohit is a huge loss. He is such a class player and he was our captain. So it’s a huge hole to fill.

"My job is to try and get the team off to a good start and then offer some experience in the dressing room to some of the younger players and try and keep them relaxed."

Mumbai next play the undefeated Northern Knights from New Zealand and a win for Hussey and his team would all but guarantee both sides progress to the main stages.

Meanwhile, a second win in qualifying has all but assured Northern Districts of a spot in the CLT20 tournament.

Northern sit top of the qualifying group after a crushing 72-run win over the Lahore Lions in Raipur in the earlier match overnight Sunday.

BJ Watling, who stroked 53 from 37 balls, put on a 90-run partnership for the fourth wicket with skipper Daniel Flynn, who was equally assured in racking up 53 from 30 balls.

Flynn went in the 18th over and Watling in the last, but they had played their part compiling a total of 170 that proved more than enough.

Black Caps pair Trent Boult and Tim Southee then went on to destroy the Lions top order with a masterful display of swing bowling in humid conditioins.

Southee struck first, yorking Nasir Jamshed in the second over, while Ahmed Shehzad edged Boult to Watling in the third.

Southee bagged danger man Mohammad Hafeez for five when he feathered a short ball to Watling, before Umar Akmal played Boult onto his stumps for one, and Southee got Umar Siddiq lbw for three to reduce Lahore to 19-5 in the sixth over. They were eventually all out for 98 after 18 overs.

"I think we showed once we get the ball swinging it's a lot harder, and if you keep taking wickets through a Twenty20 innings it's tough to get the momentum back," Southee said.

"The start we got off to, there was no coming back, and we managed to keep chipping away and taking wickets at key times throughout."