Brett Lee starred with a stunning all-round performance as New South Wales beat Trinidad & Tobago to win the inaugural Champions League Twenty20, and with it a jackpot of US$ 2.5 million, in Hyderabad. The 41-run margin of victory, however, didn’t mean it was a one-sided contest: T&T dominated initially, reducing NSW to 83 for 6, before Lee’s fighting innings lifted his side to a competitive total. He then returned for a fiery spell with the new ball, jolting T&T’s chase with two early wickets.
The match was won and lost in ten overs – the last five of the NSW innings and the first five of T&T’s – and it was Lee who imposed himself on the game-breaking moments. The game had several subplots – the nervy collapse of both top orders, Ravi Rampaul’s canny seam bowling, Steven Smith’s sensible support act and the threat posed by Kieron Pollard – but the one that had the biggest impact was Lee’s all-round contribution.
He walked in with NSW tottering and proceeded to slowly pull them out of the hole before shifting gears to propel them to a competitive score. It was almost the perfect counter punch. Lee’s first priority was safety – he scored just 7 off 13 deliveries – but, knowing that meandering to a below-par total would be futile against an aggressive T&T team, he upped the ante with precise and powerful blows in the final overs.
Lee launched his assault in the 16th over against Lendl Simmons: the first delivery – a full toss – was swung over square-leg for six, the fourth was hit over long-on, and the last one carved to the cover boundary. From then on he repeatedly cleared the front leg and swung cleanly through the line. Navin Stewart disappeared over long-on and Sherwin Ganga was heaved over midwicket. Lee got support from Steven Smith, who did what was required: give the strike to Lee, try to pinch the occasional boundary, and ensure he didn’t lose his wicket.
Lee was the last man out but wasn’t done for the night. He returned to harass the T&T top order with pace, bounce and movement. He bowled the impetuous William Perkins with a full, fast and straight delivery and removed Lendl Simmons by taking a sharp return catch off a slower one. Stuart Clark, with his slower cutters, and Doug Bollinger, with his bounce from short of length, proceeded to strangle T&T’s middle order and it was left to that man Pollard to try to do the improbable. And he nearly did.
Throughout this tournament, Pollard has batted like Lance Klusener did in the 1999 World Cup. No target seemed to be too much for him. Just like Klusener, he showed unbelievable composure: he started his innings calmly, dealing in singles, before he unleashed his own brand of razzmatazz. He pulled a free hit from Bollinger over midwicket, swung Nathan Hauritz over long-on and got the equation down to 47 from 31 balls when it happened. He went for another six off Hauritz but couldn’t clear the boundary, and who else but Lee at long-on settled under the catch. With Pollard’s exit, Trinidad’s dream run came to a crushing halt, and they had to settle for second prize – US$ 1.3 million.
It ended with defeat, but the game had started splendidly for T&T. If NSW were to reach a huge total, their two hard-hitting openers had to contribute heavily but that didn’t happen. T&T started with a spin-seam combination and Sherwin Ganga, the offspinner, bowled three overs in the Powerplay. David Warner opted to play a weak reverse sweep against him and nearly edged it back to the bowler. Warner did go on to thread a couple of boundaries on the off side but never looked in. Meanwhile the pressure told on his partner Phillip Hughes, who faced three balls in the first three overs, and fell, trying to slog-pull the impressive Ravi Rampaul.
While Sherwin Ganga was miserly, it was Rampaul who really shone with a fine display of canny seam bowling. He hit a full length, got the ball to cut both ways and built pressure. One moment captured his combative spirit perfectly: When Warner tried to impose himself with a crashing cover-drive, Rampaul fired in a sharp 140 kmph bouncer that flew past the startled batsman.
The chance for NSW to break free came in the fifth over bowled by Dwayne Bravo, who had leaked runs in the semi-final. Katich started off with a bottom-hand powered six over long-on but Warner fell in the same over, edging one to right of backward point where Dave Mohammed took a fine catch.
What followed was a nervy phase for NSW as one batsman after another fell to soft dismissals. Katich punched Bravo straight to mid-off, Moises Henriques swung a short delivery to fine-leg, Ben Rohrer pulled a long hop straight to deep midwicket, and Daniel Smith chopped a length delivery back on to his stumps. But Lee and Smith saved the day with some sensible batting before Lee returned with the ball to end T&T’s dream.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Champions League, CLT20, New South Wales, Trinidad & Tobago
The only unbeaten team in the Champions League produced another compelling performance oozing with Caribbean flair to knock the Cape Cobras out of the tournament and set up a summit clash against New South Wales. The second semi-final wasn’t anywhere near as one-sided as the first, though, and Trinidad & Tobago and the Cobras traded blow for blow, wrestling for the upper hand until Dwayne Bravo’s first significant contribution with the bat in the competition turned the contest on a thrilling evening in Hyderabad.
T&T raised their intensity at crucial moments: when the Cobras’ openers made a fast start, when the middle-order batsmen batted with aggression and when, at the death, they followed up a 20-run penultimate over by conceding only two off the last. The Cobras, on the other hand, dropped an appalling number of catches and failed to contain T&T’s thrilling opening combination, which set the base for Bravo and Daren Ganga’s match-winning 93-run partnership.
The T&T approach to batting has been sheer entertainment during the Champions League and they did not let the pressure of chasing 175 in a semi-final cramp their style. Their openers, Adrian Barath and Wiliam Perkins, targeted Monde Zondeki for most of the early runs. Barath played with flamboyance and cut him for four, drove for six, and whipped to the leg side boundary to take 16 off the second over. Perkins stole the spotlight soon after, with a cheeky hat-trick of fours in the fourth. Andrew Puttick gave Rory Kleinveldt a go, but he leaked 15 off his first five balls – six of those a result of a towering cut by Barath over point.
T&T raced to 53 off 4.5 overs when a misjudged single led to Perkins’ run-out. Barath followed soon after, for 29 off 16, when he played back to Duminy and was trapped in front. But just when the Cobras had an opening, their fielding went to pieces. Lendl Simmons was dropped in successive overs by Henry Davids and, though those errors didn’t cost the Cobras much, the next one hurt them plenty.
The spinners had brought T&T’s run-rate down and there had been no boundaries for 31 balls until Bravo pulled Justin Ontong for six in the 13th over. The asking-rate was still steep – T&T needed 68 off 38 balls – when Bravo offered Ontong a catch at long-on and was dropped. The Cobras never found a way back.
Ontong watched Ganga loft the next ball over his head for six, before Bravo cut loose in Vernon Philander’s next over, hitting consecutive sixes over long-off and extra cover. The asking-rate went into freefall thereafter with the batsmen finding the boundary in every over. Bravo brought up his half-century off 31 balls by lofting Charl Langeveldt through cover, and finished the game with four balls to spare by pulling Kleinveldt to the midwicket boundary.
At one stage of the Cobras innings, though, when they were consistently scoring at nine an over, it seemed they would set T&T somewhere near 200 to chase. Aided by exceptional fielding and safe catching, T&T ensured that two well-set batsmen were never at the crease together and the Cobras momentum was not maximized as a result.
They had raced to 54 after their Powerplay, the out-of-form Herschelle Gibbs rising to the occasion and doing the bulk of the hitting by pummeling Bravo for four leg-side boundaries in an over. He even had a slice of luck when the third umpire deemed there was a bit of boot behind the line and ruled him not out after Denesh Ramdin had completed a sharp stumping of Kieron Pollard. That, however, cost T&T only one run as Gibbs was bowled by a slower one from Pollard for 42 off 27 balls.
T&T saw off the threat posed by Kleinveldt and Justin Ontong – after Pollard’s outstanding catch on the boundary line was also given not out though replays did not show the ball touching ground – and the lack of a steady partner left Duminy with the responsibility of giving the Cobras an explosive finish. He had begun by attacking Mohammed, hitting the chinaman bowler through extra cover for four and slog-sweeping him for the flattest of sixes. He brought up his half-century off 34 balls and helped Cobras take 20 off the penultimate over bowled by Bravo, who went for 46 off three. Rampaul, however, gave T&T a last-over boost by conceding only two runs off it. And Bravo made up for his largesse with the ball with a match-winning half-century.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Cape Cobras, Champions League, CLT20, Trinidad & Tobago
There was no nerve-jangling, last-ball finish today, like there was when New South Wales pipped Victoria twice to win last season’s Big Bash. Instead, the Australian champions delivered a clinical performance on a difficult Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, one that ensured the first semi-final of the Champions League was one of the most one-sided matches of the tournament.
On the same pitch where fewer than 200 runs were scored in the match between Delhi Daredevils and Cape Cobras a day ago, the NSW openers David Warner and Phillip Hughes provided a powerful start, which allowed them to post 169, far more than the 110 Victoria captain Cameron White had hoped to limit them to. A tough chase became virtually impossible when offspinner Nathan Hauritz, who was given the second over, struck twice in three deliveries, getting rid of Victoria’s openers.
The build-up to the highly anticipated contest between the Australian sides centered around how difficult the track would be for power-hitting and, when Hughes was struck on the arm by a bouncer from Peter Siddle in the second over, it seemed the batsmen would have toil for their runs.
Warner, though, doesn’t toil for his runs. His Australia call-up and an IPL contract were results of his ability to tear into bowling attacks and he did just that in front of a disappointingly thin Delhi crowd. The stand-out feature of his innings was his straight-hitting on a pitch with low bounce: both his sixes were clean hits over long-off and he started the onslaught with a searing flat-batted swipe past the bowler, Shane Harwood, in the third over.
That boundary began a prosperous period for NSW. Warner was sublime, bludgeoning 25 runs off ten deliveries he faced from an off-colour Siddle. He rounded off the Powerplay with a lofted straight drive over Siddle’s head and launched him to the extra-cover boundary to take NSW to 56.
Victoria got a lucky break in the next over, when Warner was run out attempting a suicidal run after Hughes pushed the ball to point. A livid Warner stormed back to the dug-out, falling two short of a well-deserved half-century.
Hughes had coasted through the Powerplays but switched to top gear after that dismissal. Most of his shots started with him getting the front foot out of the way, whether he crashed the ball past point, caressed it through extra cover, or bludgeoned towards midwicket. He had scored 20 off his previous seven deliveries when he was foxed by Clint McKay’s back-of-the-hand slower ball, which batsmen have found extremely hard to pick in this tournament.
Daniel Smith, promoted to No. 3, and captain Simon Katich kept the momentum up, picking off boundaries early in the over and working the singles. Victoria did manage to restrict the runs towards the end though; the only boundaries in the last five overs were a couple of innovative paddle-scoops to fine leg from Ben Rohrer.
The only thing that prevented New South Wales from entering the semi-final unbeaten was a stunning 18-ball 54 from Trinidad & Tobago batsman Kieron Pollard. Victoria needed something similar but Hauritz’s blows, followed by Lee’s dismissal of Aiden Blizzard, made their task incredibly hard.
After the Powerplay, Victoria had limped to only 17 for 3, and even their experienced and highly-rated duo of White and David Hussey couldn’t pull off a rescue act. It was a slow and painful slide to an embarrassing defeat for Victoria and they didn’t even manage three figures. White had predicted at the toss that it would be a “hell of a chase” whatever NSW managed; he couldn’t have imagined a more hellish chase.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Champions League, CLT20, New South Wales, Victoria
The spate of low scores at the Feroz Shah Kotla continued on Monday with the Cape Cobras collapsing in their chase of 115 to lose by 30 runs, in the bargain posting the tournament’s lowest total. The good news for them, though, was that they finished second in League B and will play their semi-final against Trinidad and Tobago in Hyderabad, avoiding the dodgy Kotla pitch. There was good news for Delhi Daredevils, too – they were already out of the tournament but ended on a high and gave their fans something to cheer.
With the pitch behaving as expected – the ball coming on slowly and the bounce uneven – bowlers from both teams stuck to a plan similar to that adopted by other teams here. While pace helped Cobras restrict Delhi’s batsmen, the home team relied on their spinners to turn the tide and pick up the big wickets – Herschelle Gibbs, JP Duminy and Justin Ontong. Gautam Gambhir, aware of the tricky pitch, opted to open the bowling with Tillakaratne Dilshan and the turn was evident in his second delivery as he trapped Gibbs in front to one that shot in from outside off. Duminy, charged with the responsibility of guiding the innings after Henry Davids’ departure, was castled by Amit Mishra to one that kept extremely low, and Ontong was bowled through the gate, deceived by Dilshan’s flight.
Strangely enough, though, the flow of each innings was altered by run-outs that prevented a par score on this track. Dinesh Karthik’s attacking 23 was ended by an all-too-familiar blunder by his partner Owais Shah, while Henry Davids’ dismissal off a direct hit from Pradeep Sangwan at short third man – after putting on an aggressive 27 with Duminy – proved decisive in getting Delhi back in the game.
Meanwhile, Dirk Nannes went about his job with typical efficiency; having uprooted Andrew Puttick’s off stump in his second over, he delivered immediately on return for his second spell. Ryan Canning was bowled while attempting a pull and Claude Henderson failed to dig one out of the blockhole. At 78 for 8, there was only one result possible and Yogesh Nagar made swift work of the tail.
Delhi’s score was boosted by Shah, who made amends for Karthik’s dismissal with some aggression at the death. He broke a 10-over boundary drought with a six over long-on off Ontong, and helped snatch 35 off the last four overs to give his bowlers something of a target.
Karthik had launched a counter-attack after Rory Kleinveldt – who kept a tight line and offered little width – had reined in Delhi by dismissing the openers. After seeing off three overs amid the pressure of a declining run-rate, he stepped up to dispatch Kleinveldt for three consecutive fours. Each delivery varied in length but Karthik adapted brilliantly; a short one was pulled over midwicket, a good-length delivery was driven on the up and a slower ball bowled full was clattered over extra cover. His dismissal pegged back Delhi further, but Shah’s surge towards the end of the innings took them to what turned out to be a match-winning total.
While the Hyderabad semi-final between T&T and Cobras promises to be a high-scoring one, the two Australian teams, Victoria and New South Wales, will be wary of what is likely to be on offer in Delhi, with the pitch spoiling a game designed for big hits.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Cape Cobras, Champions League, CLT20, Delhi Daredevils
Trinidad and Tobago, powered by a fearless batting performance, secured the final spot in the semi-final line-up of the Champions League. Their batsmen thrilled the Hyderabad crowd by playing a shot a ball during a relentless assault on the Eagles that propelled them to 213 for 4, the highest total of the tournament. And it wasn’t even Kieron Pollard who devastated the bowling, although he did contribute at the end; the damage was inflicted by Adrian Barath, William Perkins and Lendl Simmons. To seal their place in the final four, T&T’s bowlers just had to ensure Eagles didn’t reach their target in 14.2 overs. They did that, but only after overcoming an early scare.
The Eagles were perhaps the most unheralded team at the start of the tournament. But despite the lack of international players in their ranks, they were tenacious, punching above their weight, keeping calm in tense situations, and progressed into the second round. Rilee Rossouw led the charge today, blazing 44 off 19 balls, and propelled the Eagles to 50 off only 3.4 overs. They pillaged 77 runs from the Powerplay and raced to 100 off 56 balls. However, their desperate pursuit of runs forced errors and Rossouw’s dismissal, with the score on 81 for 2, ended Eagles’ slim chances of reaching the target before the 15th over. They continued to fight manfully, pushing for what would have been an impressive consolation victory, but eventually fell 24 runs short.
T&T’s enterprising style of play in India had already made them the most exciting side of the tournament, but today they turned the intensity up several notches. Their batsmen didn’t merely try to time their shots and find gaps in the field, they wound-up and swung hard, aiming to smash the ball with every ounce of power they could summon. Adrian Barath, playing his first game because Darren Bravo was unfit, scored 63 off 41 balls and blitzed 64 off the Powerplay with Perkins. Lendl Simmons then blazed to 40 off 25 balls, Pollard chipped in with 23 off 13, and the spectators were treated to T&T’s newest finisher, Navin Stewart, who ransacked 33 off 11. There were 13 sixes and 18 fours in all in the innings, and the carnage left the Eagles shell-shocked.
The Eagles’ hopes of restricting T&T to a total they could achieve in 14.2 overs began to vanish in the first over. Perkins was the pace-setter, cover-driving Victor Mpitsang through cover, clearing the boundary in the same region, before slashing over the third-man boundary. Barath didn’t take long to join in, carving Mpitsang over the backward point boundary as well. Cornelius de Villiers, Eagles’ best bowler in their last two games, wasn’t spared either. Soon, the opening partnership was a blur of flashing bats and balls speeding through and over the infield.
The Eagles received fleeting relief when Thandi Tshabalala beat Perkins’ cut with a slow offbreak, but normal service resumed the very next ball. Tshabalala greeted Simmons with a friendly full toss and watched it disappear over long-on. With his confidence soaring, Simmons square drove the next ball for four and stamped out any thoughts of an Eagles fightback. Barath had been the quieter partner until then, because he hit relatively fewer boundaries initially, but he opened his shoulders to swing Tshabalala over long on and reached his half-century off 34 balls.
Boeta Dippenaar had been forced to make frequent bowling changes right through and he brought de Villiers back in the 14th over. It cost the Eagles 20 runs. Barath carved the first ball over the point boundary and drilled the last straight down the ground. In between those shots, Simmons sent the ball speeding to fine leg and cover point. Simmons fell soon after – he was Ryan McLaren’s first wicket of the tournament – and Barath and Pollard followed in subsequent overs. The damage had already been done, though, but the only player from Tobago in the XI wasn’t going to relent. Stewart had replaced Samuel Badree in the XI, and was promoted ahead of Daren Ganga and Denesh Ramdin to give the innings an explosive finish. He did precisely that, ransacking 27 runs off the penultimate over bowled by du Preez, ensuring that the Eagles would need a miraculous effort to win, never mind qualify for the semi-final.
There aren’t too many ways to go about chasing 214 in 14.2 overs, and Rossouw began by smacking the last two balls of Ravi Rampaul’s first over down the ground for four. He improved on that against Dwayne Bravo, lofting the last two balls of his first over for monstrous sixes on the leg side. Morne van Wyk also wasted no time, dispatching Rampaul to the midwicket and square-leg boundary before scoring a hat-trick of fours against Sherwin Ganga. It was adrenalin-saturated action and Rossouw, who was dropped on 31 by Daren Ganga off Simmons, heaved the same bowled over the midwicket boundary.
The breakthroughs eventually came off tame deliveries. Sherwin Ganga delivered two straight full tosses, both van Wyk and Adrian McLaren played across the line and were trapped in front. Rossouw continued to fight a losing battle; one attempted six didn’t come off and he was caught on the deep midwicket boundary, easing T&T’s nerves.
The 24-run victory was T&T’s third win in League A, and they topped the group with six points, setting up a semi-final clash against either Victoria or Cape Cobras in Hyderabad.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Champions League, CLT20, Eagles, Trinidad & Tobago
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