Gale leads the way

JAMES GALE carried his bat for a superb 79 as Corinthians chased down a 20-over target of 135 set by St Pierre on a still evening at KGV.

Thanks to Gale, Corinthians got home with three balls to spare having stumbled in the closing overs as Tom Kimber held onto two cracking catches in the deep to dismiss Iain Atchison and Pierre Moody and add to the batting side's growing anxiety.

Unfortunately for St Pierre, their captain could not quite hold on to a stinger hammered to extra cover by Gale late on and with that escape the royal blues were home and dry.

Matt Stokes hit the winning runs with a late cut for three off the third ball of Max Ellis's final over which started with six required to win.