World Of T20 Cricket

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.

New South Wales innings (20 overs maximum)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	DA Warner	c Mohammed b Bravo	19	16	4	0	118.75
	4.3 good catch by Mohammed at backward point! Warner gets a leading edge, trying to turn one off leg stump to the on side but is done for bounce and gets squared up, the ball flies to Mohammed’s right and he takes a good diving catch 32/2
	PJ Hughes	b Rampaul	3	5	0	0	60.00
	3.1 cleaned up! Terrible shot across the line, a real ugly shot to one that just isn’t short enough to pull and pays the price, backing away to expose everything and middle and leg are gone 24/1
	SM Katich*	c Barath b Bravo	16	14	0	2	114.28
	6.5 soft dismissal there, Katich gets back and just chips the ball to mid-off 45/3
	MC Henriques	c S Ganga b Pollard	4	7	0	0	57.14
	7.2 and Pollard strikes! Wasn’t a good ball, short and there to be hit but Henriques swings it straight to the man out at deep square leg 47/4
	BJ Rohrer	c S Ganga b Mohammed	16	12	1	1	133.33
	10.1 and first ball he strikes! What do you know! Bad ball, short and there to be taken on but Rohrer loses a hand off the bat and pulls it over the infield out to Ganga in the deep, and immediately Mohammed lies down and does his alligator role and ends with a namaskar pose, what an entertainer he is! 75/5
	SPD Smith	c Simmons b S Ganga	33	26	2	1	126.92
	17.3 well held, Simmons! Smith shuffles around in his crease and pulls out the reverse sweep to one tossed up generously, he makes good enough contact but Simmons, running in from deep cover, dives forward and cups a good low catch 132/7
	DLR Smith†	b Rampaul	3	3	0	0	100.00
	11.2 bowled em! Good ball, fuller in length, cuts back in off the seam, Smith looks to chop it down to third man but is late on the stroke and the ball nips back off stump 83/6
	B Lee	c Perkins b Rampaul	48	31	1	5	154.83
	19.6 two in two and thats the end of Lee! Rampaul goes full with the angle, doesn’t exactly land it right but Lee slashes it out to Perkins at deep cover, who juggles it 159/9
	NM Hauritz	run out (†Ramdin/Rampaul)	10	6	1	0	166.66
	19.5 Rampaul to Lee, good use of the short ball to bring Lee to his knees, he ducks away and takes his eyes off it, Ramdin collects and throws back to Rampaul in a flash, Hauritz it on the lookout for a go but Lee doesn’t move and the bowler does the rest 159/8
	SR Clark	not out	0	0	0	0	-
	Extras	(lb 5, w 2)	7
	Total	(9 wickets; 20 overs)	159	(7.95 runs per over)

Did not bat DE Bollinger

Fall of wickets1-24 (Hughes, 3.1 ov), 2-32 (Warner, 4.3 ov), 3-45 (Katich, 6.5 ov), 4-47 (Henriques, 7.2 ov), 5-75 (Rohrer, 10.1 ov), 6-83 (DLR Smith, 11.2 ov), 7-132 (SPD Smith, 17.3 ov), 8-159 (Hauritz, 19.5 ov), 9-159 (Lee, 19.6 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	S Ganga	4	0	29	1	7.25	(1w)
	17.3 to SPD Smith, well held, Simmons! Smith shuffles around in his crease and pulls out the reverse sweep to one tossed up generously, he makes good enough contact but Simmons, running in from deep cover, dives forward and cups a good low catch 132/7
	R Rampaul	4	0	20	3	5.00
	3.1 to Hughes, cleaned up! Terrible shot across the line, a real ugly shot to one that just isn’t short enough to pull and pays the price, backing away to expose everything and middle and leg are gone 24/1 11.2 to DLR Smith, bowled em! Good ball, fuller in length, cuts back in off the seam, Smith looks to chop it down to third man but is late on the stroke and the ball nips back off stump 83/6 19.6 to Lee, two in two and thats the end of Lee! Rampaul goes full with the angle, doesn’t exactly land it right but Lee slashes it out to Perkins at deep cover, who juggles it 159/9
	DJ Bravo	3	0	27	2	9.00	(1w)
	4.3 to Warner, good catch by Mohammed at backward point! Warner gets a leading edge, trying to turn one off leg stump to the on side but is done for bounce and gets squared up, the ball flies to Mohammed’s right and he takes a good diving catch 32/2 6.5 to Katich, soft dismissal there, Katich gets back and just chips the ball to mid-off 45/3
	KA Pollard	3	0	27	1	9.00
	7.2 to Henriques, and Pollard strikes! Wasn’t a good ball, short and there to be hit but Henriques swings it straight to the man out at deep square leg 47/4
	D Mohammed	3	0	19	1	6.33
	10.1 to Rohrer, and first ball he strikes! What do you know! Bad ball, short and there to be taken on but Rohrer loses a hand off the bat and pulls it over the infield out to Ganga in the deep, and immediately Mohammed lies down and does his alligator role and ends with a namaskar pose, what an entertainer he is! 75/5
	LMP Simmons	2	0	23	0	11.50
	ND Stewart	1	0	9	0	9.00

	Trinidad & Tobago innings (target: 160 runs from 20 overs)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	WKD Perkins	b Lee	0	2	0	0	0.00
	0.2 bowled em! Lee! Perkins goes all over the place, exposing all the stumps and looking to hit over the covers but Lee goes full and straight and splays the stumps 1/1
	A Barath	c †DLR Smith b SPD Smith	14	6	2	1	233.33
	1.6 edged and taken! Short and wide, skids on quickly, Barath reaches out to cut and gets a thin under edge that the wicketkeeper snaps up, c Smith b Smith and Barath goes 21/2
	LMP Simmons	c & b Lee	4	7	1	0	57.14
	2.2 well taken, champ! Its Lee’s evening! What a catch! Simmons goes back to make room but hammers the ball but back to the bowler’s right and Lee makes no mistake 21/3
	D Ganga*	c Warner b SPD Smith	19	20	1	1	95.00
	9.6 can you believe it! Ganga gets a short and wide ball and slaps it straight to Warner at point! 68/5
	DJ Bravo	b Bollinger	17	13	2	1	130.76
	5.3 played on! The short angle does for Bravo, standing back in expectation of this ball but pushing at it loosely and dragging it back on the base of his stumps 45/4
	D Ramdin†	c SPD Smith b Clark	16	23	1	0	69.56
	13.1 good catch at gully! Ramdin likes playing this shot and he perishes to it as well, just not getting the steer wide of Steven Smith who dives forward and holds on 93/6
	KA Pollard	c Lee b Hauritz	26	15	0	3	173.33
	14.6 and he’s gone! Is that the match? Hauritz flights it up more, Pollard again goes for that big shot down the ground but mistimes it, its up in the air for some time and when it comes down its into Lee’s calm palms in front of the ropes at long-on 113/8
	S Ganga	c Henriques b Hauritz	5	7	0	0	71.42
	14.4 and Ganga swings a full toss out to a sliding Henriques at deep midwicket! 107/7
	ND Stewart	c Henriques b Clark	4	3	1	0	133.33
	15.4 good catch, goooood catch! Its Henriques running behind and to his left from midwicket, keeping his eyes on that mistimed slog across the line, takes the ball and falls over but doesn’t let it slip out 118/9
	D Mohammed	c Hughes b Clark	1	2	0	0	50.00
	15.5 all over, NSW have won the Champions League! Mohammed backs away and slices it over cover and Hughes runs in and takes it low to the grass 118/10
	R Rampaul	not out	0	0	0	0	-
	Extras	(lb 5, w 4, nb 3)	12
	Total	(all out; 15.5 overs)	118	(7.45 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-1 (Perkins, 0.2 ov), 2-21 (Barath, 1.6 ov), 3-21 (Simmons, 2.2 ov), 4-45 (Bravo, 5.3 ov), 5-68 (D Ganga, 9.6 ov), 6-93 (Ramdin, 13.1 ov), 7-107 (S Ganga, 14.4 ov), 8-113 (Pollard, 14.6 ov), 9-118 (Stewart, 15.4 ov), 10-118 (Mohammed, 15.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	B Lee	2	0	10	2	5.00	(1nb, 1w)
	0.2 to Perkins, bowled em! Lee! Perkins goes all over the place, exposing all the stumps and looking to hit over the covers but Lee goes full and straight and splays the stumps 1/1 2.2 to Simmons, well taken, champ! Its Lee’s evening! What a catch! Simmons goes back to make room but hammers the ball but back to the bowler’s right and Lee makes no mistake 21/3
	SPD Smith	4	0	32	2	8.00	(1w)
	1.6 to Barath, edged and taken! Short and wide, skids on quickly, Barath reaches out to cut and gets a thin under edge that the wicketkeeper snaps up, c Smith b Smith and Barath goes 21/2 9.6 to D Ganga, can you believe it! Ganga gets a short and wide ball and slaps it straight to Warner at point! 68/5
	DE Bollinger	4	0	27	1	6.75	(1nb, 2w)
	5.3 to Bravo, played on! The short angle does for Bravo, standing back in expectation of this ball but pushing at it loosely and dragging it back on the base of his stumps 45/4
	SR Clark	3.5	0	21	3	5.47
	13.1 to Ramdin, good catch at gully! Ramdin likes playing this shot and he perishes to it as well, just not getting the steer wide of Steven Smith who dives forward and holds on 93/6 15.4 to Stewart, good catch, goooood catch! Its Henriques running behind and to his left from midwicket, keeping his eyes on that mistimed slog across the line, takes the ball and falls over but doesn’t let it slip out 118/9 15.5 to Mohammed, all over, NSW have won the Champions League! Mohammed backs away and slices it over cover and Hughes runs in and takes it low to the grass 118/10
	NM Hauritz	2	0	23	2	11.50	(1nb)
	14.4 to S Ganga, and Ganga swings a full toss out to a sliding Henriques at deep midwicket! 107/7 14.6 to Pollard, and he’s gone! Is that the match? Hauritz flights it up more, Pollard again goes for that big shot down the ground but mistimes it, its up in the air for some time and when it comes down its into Lee’s calm palms in front of the ropes at long-on 113/8

Match details

Toss Trinidad & Tobago, who chose to field Series New South Wales won the 2009/10 Champions League Twenty20

Player of the match B Lee (New South Wales) Player of the series B Lee (New South Wales)

Umpires DJ Harper (Australia) and RE Koertzen (South Africa) TV umpire AM Saheba Match referee S Venkataraghavan Reserve umpire S Ravi

Match notes

New South Wales innings New South Wales: 50 runs in 7.5 overs (47 balls), Extras 3 New South Wales: 100 runs in 14.6 overs (91 balls), Extras 6 New South Wales: 150 runs in 18.5 overs (115 balls), Extras 7 Innings Break: New South Wales – 159/9 in 20.0 overs (SR Clark 0) Trinidad & Tobago innings Trinidad & Tobago: 50 runs in 6.6 overs (46 balls), Extras 8 Trinidad & Tobago: 100 runs in 14.2 overs (93 balls), Extras 12

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Champions League, CLT20, New South Wales, Trinidad & Tobago