Tuesday’s games in the T20 Champions League see Victoria take on Wayamba and The Eagles face Sussex. We take a look at both matches.
Both of Tuesday’s games will take place in Delhi, of the 4 matches on this ground, 3 have been won by the side batting first, the exception to the trend being Victoria’s demolition of Delhi who could only manage 98/8 in their 20 overs.
Victoria v Wayamba:
Time and Venue: 16:00 local -10:30 GMT, Delhi
A super-eight berth at stake, Australia’s Victoria Bushrangers and Sri Lanka’s Wayamba Elevens take on each other in the must-win final group D match of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament in New Delhi.
Victoria is in control of the group after a crushing win over Delhi Daredevils in their opening game. They remain on top of the group on net run rate and the only way the can fail to qualify is if they suffer a very heavy defeat here. After such a professional performance in their opening game, Victoria start firm favourites so Wayamba will have their work cut out to win the game, let alone win it by a wide enough margin to see them overhaul either Victoria or Delhi.
Wayamba were perhaps unfortunate to come up against Sehwag on a good day in their opening game and the 50 run defeat has really left them with a mountain to climb. Such is the desperation of their position; they have no choice but to give it a real go with the bat but the wicket to wicket bowling of Victoria will not be easy to get away.
Victoria has a solid batting line-up starting with Australia international Brad Hodge, who would look to strike form after coming a cropper against Daredevils.
Wayamba’s batting, on the other hand, flopped miserably against Delhi with Mahela Jayawardene being the only one to put up a fight. The likes of Farveez Maharoof and Chanaka Welegedara also failed to make any impact.
Eagles v Sussex:
Time and Venue: 20:00 local -14:30 GMT, Delhi
With New South Wales having already qualified from the group, this becomes an eliminator, the winner goes through and the loser goes home.
Using New South Wales as our form line, there isn’t that much to choose between the sides. The Eagles were beaten by 53 runs by the Australian side as they finished 91/9 chasing 145 whilst Sussex made 95/8 against NSW when chasing 131. Neither side was really in the chase but both will have benefited from a look at the Delhi conditions.
Only Ryan Mclaren spent any length of time at the crease for The Eagles in their opening game, his 40 off 37 balls against NSW showed you can make runs down the order at this ground.
With NSW dominating both these sides in the earlier matches, this is a tough contest to call. Clues as to how the wicket is playing will be given from the earlier game. Sussex probably just about deserves to be favourites but it could be the toss has a role to play in the outcome.
CL T20 cricket Teams:
Sussex: Michael Yardy (capt), Dwayne Smith, Luke Wright, James Kirtley, Piyush Chawla, Ed Joyce, Joe Gatting, Robin Martin-Jenkins, William Beer, Andrew Hodd, Christopher Nash, Ben Brown, Rory Hamilton-Brown, Yasir Arafat, Chad Keegan.
Diamond Eagles: Boeta Dippenaar (capt), Dillon du Preez, Morne van Wyk, Mthandeki Tshabalala, Adrian McLaren, Ryan McLaren, Victor Mpitsang, Ryan Bailey, Jandre Coetzee, Cornelis de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Reeza Hendricks, Alan Kruger, Rilee Rossouw, Shadley van Schalkwyk.
Author: Mona Gupta, New Delhi.
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