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
Andrew Puttick and the Cobras were clearly rattled by the security issue that delayed the start of the match by 100 minutes, shortening it to 17 overs a side. That didn’t stop them from crushing Victoria by eight wickets, which also dumped Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the tournament. The result leaves Delhi Daredevils needing to win both their remaining games to keep the Indian challenge in the tournament alive; one loss will mean Victoria and Cobras go through. Despite the heavy defeat, Victoria are through to the semi-finals by virtue of their superior net run-rate (+0.911, Cobras are +0.532, Delhi are -1.100).
Herschelle Gibbs and Ryan Canning were missing but the match again showed off the depth and variety of batting talent in the Cobras line-up. JP Duminy had won them their first game against Bangalore, Puttick and Justin Ontong were the stars against Otago, and today it was the turn of Derek Brand (getting his first game) and Henry Davids to batter the opposition.
Puttick wasn’t sure of his line-up at the toss, saying it would be a “surprise” as he didn’t know which of his players had chosen to play after the security scare. Opening bowler Monde Zondeki settled the nerves after Victoria chose to bat, getting rid of the dangerous opening pair of Rob Quiney and Brad Hodge in the first three balls. Quiney swung the game’s first delivery to fine leg, and Hodge was bowled by a ball that nipped back in.
Aiden Blizzard started a typically Australian counterattack. He muscled a couple of deliveries to the midwicket boundary, drilled a free-hit straight down the ground and a lofted on-drive pushed them to 28 after 3.4 overs. Fast bowler Rory Kleinveldt ended the cameo by getting Blizzard to mis-hit to extra cover.
After the seamers struck, the spin pair of Claude Henderson and Duminy started to tie down Victoria. David Hussey and captain Cameron White had stitched together a useful 32, and they were just shifting into top gear when Hussey slammed Duminy over long-on for six. Duminy again showed his partnership-breaking ability when he had Hussey edging to Kleinveldt at point.
He started to leak runs, though, firing a wide down the leg side which the keeper missed, and was then taken for 13 in his next over. At the other end, Henderson was tidy as usual, only giving away singles in his final three overs.
After White holed out in 14th over, it was left to Matthew Wade and Andrew McDonald to propel Victoria in the final stages. They were up to the task, piling on 31 in the final three overs giving the big crowd something to cheer as a Victoria victory was required to keep Bangalore in the race for a final four spot.
Brand however showed no signs of being awed by the big stage, clobbering five fours and a six in the first four overs to lop a run off the required-rate. He was particularly severe on Shane Harwood, ransacking 26 runs off two overs. There was slight relief for Victoria when, after some confused calling, Brand was run out in the fifth over by Clint McKay.
Enter Davids. He started with a delicate dab past short third man for four, one of the few soft touches in a power-packed half-century. Left-arm spinner Jon Holland was hammered for a couple of leg-side sixes in his first two overs, bringing the asking rate below a run a ball. With Duminy sensibly giving him most of the strike in an unbroken 88-run stand, Davids took Cobras to a comprehensive victory that silenced the home crowd.
The fans had showed up despite the security concerns which returned to haunt cricket earlier in the day. An Under-22 cricketer staying at the venue was detained by the Bangalore police in the afternoon in connection with a suspected presence of explosives before being released. The match was given the go-ahead only after a thorough check of the ground by the police.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Cape Cobras, Champions League, CLT20, Victoria
Victoria might have changed venues going into the second phase of the Champions League, but the conditions on offer were uncannily similar to what they faced in Delhi. It was their medium-pacers, particularly Andrew McDonald, who set up their comprehensive victory after Royal Challengers Bangalore had threatened to continue the trend of high scores at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Rob Quiney then ensured they remained dominant, combating the tricky surface with a determined innings to seal victory for Victoria, boosting their semi-final chances and delivering a serious setback to Bangalore’s.
Victoria’s seamers had thrived on a Delhi pitch that was sluggish, kept low, played slow and catered more to a game of patience than power. The track in Bangalore, on the other hand, initially appeared more suited to the demands of the Twenty20 format. The extra yards of pace from Shane Harwood and Peter Siddle were evident from the bounce and movement they were able to extract early on. But it also meant that they were countered with aggression, for the Bangalore openers, who fancied the ball meeting the bat at the desired pace, took advantage of any scoring opportunity.
Harwood, among the most frugal bowlers in this competition, was struck for two boundaries in his first over, Manish Pandey smashing one over his head and slapping one past mid-off. Robin Uthappa, not one to restrain himself too often, deferred to the belligerence of his junior partner, who displayed shades of his IPL brilliance with two delectable on-drives off Siddle, followed up by an audacious late-cut in his next over.
But the introduction of the other two seamers, and spinner Jon Holland, wrecked the solid foundation laid by the openers. Clint McKay shrugged off two boundaries off successive deliveries to bowl Uthappa with an offcutter; Pandey’s aggression prompted him to slap a catch back to McDonald off a ball that didn’t come on quickly and Virat Kohli holed out in the deep after failing to get the desired elevation.
Though the bounce remained true, the pitch proved highly conducive to spin and eventually slowed down. Holland, showing glimpses of what he could offer on the subsequent ODI tour of India, kept one end quiet. McDonald, in the meantime, maintained a tight line and his sly cutters, backed up by a frustrating length, earned him two significant breakthroughs. Ross Taylor, a nemesis for bowlers at the death, was caught plumb, and Rahul Dravid, whose exclusion from the ODI squad against Australia was the talking point of the day, was also trapped in front while trying to force the pace. Dravid had anchored the innings amid a flurry of wickets – Bangalore lost three for 19 in under four overs – and kept one end protected from a dismal slide.
Suddenly, the medium pacers made the conditions appear reminiscent of the Kotla, bowling slower deliveries with consistency and chipping away with wickets as the batsmen succumbed to frustration. Only 55 runs were scored in the last ten overs, incredibly for the loss of just four wickets. Though Bangalore had their own share of bowlers capable of replicating the Victorian effort, they were up against a side more experienced batting in such conditions.
Openers Quiney and Brad Hodge, having mapped out their plan for the chase, ensured there were no early hiccups. Both eschewed their natural temptation for the big shots to concentrate on preserving their wickets while also ensuring any errors from the Bangalore bowlers did not go unpunished. Anil Kumble, aiming to derive the maximum help from the pitch in defense of a below-par score, brought himself on in the first over and shuffled the bowling around. But the strategy failed.
The absence of Jacques Kallis due to injury meant Bangalore had to strengthen their line-up on two fronts; Pandey made up with the bat, delivering a fiery start, but Dale Steyn faltered badly with the ball. He was smashed contemptuously over mid-on for a boundary by Quiney in his first over, while Hodge dismissed him for three fours in his next, cashing in on freebies bowled either too short, or too full. With 46 added in six overs, Victoria were favourites by the time Hodge was castled by Balachandra Akhil. Aiden Blizzard and Quiney then built a strong partnership, helped by some wayward bowling – Bangalore conceded 21 extras – which hastened the one-sided conclusion. Both fell in quick succession but not before the task left for the remaining batsmen was a mere formality.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Champions League, CLT20, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Victoria
The Twenty20 format is supposed to be about big hits and large crowds. There wasn’t much of either at the Feroz Shah Kotla as Victoria qualified for the next stage despite losing to Wayamba, who were eliminated in a low-scoring scrap on a sluggish pitch. Both teams competed in the go-slow stakes: Wayamba making the fewest runs in the Powerplay (16) in Champions League Twenty20, and Victoria taking until the 13th over to reach 50.
After a disciplined performance from their bowlers had kept Waymba to 118, Victoria were never really in danger of elimination, as they needed only 84 to make it through. The Sri Lankan side remained in contention till the start of the 18th over of the second innings: Victoria were still 11 adrift of assured qualification, but allrounder Andrew McDonald put the issue to rest by powerfully driving the first three balls of legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi for four.
The first inkling that Wayamba weren’t going to be easily rolled over was in the third ball of the chase. Chanaka Welegedara pulled off an astonishing reflex caught-and-bowled, plucking a full-blooded Rob Quiney drive low to his left, changing direction in his follow-through.
Victoria seemed to be back in cruise control when Brad Hodge slammed a six over long-on in the fourth over and Aiden Blizzard swiped a boundary to midwicket three balls later. However, Blizzard was bowled next delivery by Welegedara, bringing together Hodge and David Hussey, the two leading run-getters in Twenty20s.
They hardly looked like the most accomplished of Twenty20 batsmen, though, as Wayamba’s attack maintained a disciplined line and length. Much-improved left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, in particular, sent down some shooters, balls which barely bounced after pitching on a length. Hussey scratched around for a 22-ball 7, and was lucky to not be stumped when stand-in keeper Mahela Jayawardene missed a low delivery from Herath. Hodge batted through the innings, but never really came to terms with the conditions, finishing on an unbeaten 44.
Wayamba’s batsmen had similar problems, hardly displaying any power in the Powerplays. The top order mistimed plenty of strokes, and adding to the lack of boundaries was panicky running; several suicidal singles were pinched but Victoria just couldn’t get a direct hit.
After Mahela Udawatte was caught plumb in front by Peter Siddle in the second over, Wayamba sent in Michael Vandort, a man with the uninspiring Twenty20 strike-rate of 89.38. He struggled to match even that for much of his innings, eating up 17 Powerplay deliveries for his first four runs. Giving him company was Jeevantha Kulatunga, who while not playing fluently, was certainly more at ease than Vandort.
It was Kulatunga who provided some momentum in Wayamba’s best phase of the innings: the five overs immediately after the Powerplay, in which they scored 47 runs with some crisp straight hitting. Vandort also got going once the spinners were on, and the pair took their side to 85 for 1 after 14 overs.
Just when it seemed Wayamba could make the most of the one advantage of the initial slowness, the many wickets they had in hand, the batting unravelled. Clint McKay, the star against Delhi Daredevils, took the wind out of the opposition again, removing both set batsmen in one over. His fast-bowling team-mates, Shane Harwood and Andrew McDonald matched him, by snaring two each in an over, leaving Wayamba at 105 for 7.
At that stage it seemed the match would turn out to be another demonstration of the might of the Australian domestic teams. However, Wayamba fought back splendidly to pull off a surprise win. That didn’t stop Victoria from making it to round two, to which both Australian sides have carried over two points as well.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Champions League, CLT20, Victoria, Wayamba
A similar story to yesterday’s panned out at the Feroz Shah Kotla, with another Indian team failing to capitalise on home conditions and crowd support. Delhi Daredevils – under new captain Gautam Gambhir – were comprehensively beaten by Victoria, for whom Clint McKay led a devastating seam attack, in the opening match of Group D.
The win capped off a remarkable day for the Australian participants, after New South Wales pummelled the Eagles a few hours earlier at the same venue.
Delhi had been left to look like outsiders against an attack that was relentless on a track with consistently uneven bounce, and which made run-scoring quite problematic. Gambhir had not bargained for such a dismal showing after choosing to bat and Delhi just managed to scrape past the second-lowest Twenty20 score at this venue, recorded by the Eagles earlier.
The signs that a devil might just be in the pitch were first seen in the third over. The ball from Shane Harwood kept low, Gambhir was slow in getting his bat down in time and his off stump went cartwheeling.
Virender Sehwag attempted to stamp his authority at home by smashing boundaries off successive Harwood deliveries, but was superbly caught and bowled by McKay in his first over off a mistimed shot on the leg side. McKay followed it up by getting Owais Shah caught behind for a duck.
The Victorian fielders were always alert, keeping the batsmen on their toes. A moment of indecision from Tillakaratne Dilshan had Dinesh Karthik scrambling for safety at the bowler’s end. Cameron White swooped in from cover and threw it back to Andrew McDonald, who took the bails off in a flash.
The situation called for Dilshan to play the anchor role and he was relatively sedate till the 16th over, when McKay – who seemed to be enjoying the conditions – lured him out and removed his off stump. Mithun Manhas tried to make the most of his run-out reprieve, but a suspected hamstring injury did not augur well for Delhi and Harwood broke through his defences to send him back for 25. McDonald capped off a superb display by castling Bhatia and Sangwan in the final over. However, there was more disappointment in store for the partisan crowd.
If there were any doubts about the pitch during and after Delhi’s innings, Rob Quiney settled them in style. Dirk Nannes, bowling to his state team-mates, was handed no favours, as Quiney belted the ball past him to the mid-on boundary. Nannes’ new-ball partner Ashish Nehra fared no better and was carted for a four and a six in his third over. With 32 on the board in the fifth over, Delhi were in a state of panic and bewilderment.
The introduction of legspinner Amit Mishra did not prove fruitful immediately, with Quiney attacking him from the start. Mishra was dispatched for six over long-on in his very first over, and the second and third deliveries of his next over disappeared for ten runs. Mishra persisted with flight and bowled Quiney next ball, the batsman failing to connect while trying to work to the leg side.
Brad Hodge, who had been watching the pyrotechnics from the other end, was cleaned up by Dilshan two balls later, but with Victoria racing to 55 for 2 in the ninth over, Delhi needed a pre-Diwali miracle. Dilshan and Mishra, bowling in tandem, managed to stifle the runs but Victoria had been delivered a productive start, and could afford to sit back.
Even Rajat Bhatia’s dismissal of David Hussey with a slower one did little to instill confidence in Gambhir to try out Pradeep Sangwan’s left-arm seam. It didn’t make much difference, for Aiden Blizzard ended the innings on a high, smashing Bhatia for a six over long-on.
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written by Swapnil
\\ tags: Champions League, CLT20, Delhi Daredevils, Victoria
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