CL T20 Match Preview: October 16

Friday’s double header in the T20 Champions League comprises of the Eagles v Somerset and New South Wales v Trinidad with both matches taking place in Hyderabad.


Eagles v Somerset:


Both these sides scraped through the group stages with the highlight being the Eagles winning a memorable one-over eliminator against Sussex to stay in the tournament. Boeta Dippenaar could do with some runs after two low scores as the Eagles top order have battled but the team showed their character against Sussex to take their place here.

Somerset pulled off a memorable win of their own against Deccan Chargers on this ground though they were walloped by Trinidad and Tobago in their subsequent match. South African’s Alfonso Thomas and Zander de Bruyn performed with credit for Somerset in the first phase though Charl Willoughby has been expensive.

Led by retired Australian Test opener Justin Langer, Somerset pulled off a sensational one-run win over Indian Premier League champions Deccan Chargers but lost to Caribbean side Trinidad and Tobago.

Somerset are lucky to be in the Super Eight as they would have been shown the door had Deccan not lost by three runs against Trinidad.

The Eagles, on the other hand, were outplayed by New South Wales in their opening match before bouncing back to beat Sussex Sharks in a must-win match to take the last available berth in the super-eight stage from their group.

Both the teams lack big names and in Somerset's case, their tail-enders did better than the top-order batsmen, clinching the last-ball thriller against Deccan.

Among the bowlers, pacer Alfonso Thomas played the all-rounder's role in the win against Deccan but apart from him, the team has not yet found any bowler capable enough of either containing or taking wickets.

Batting has been Eagles problem and though captain Boeta Dippenaar had blamed it on a treacherous Feroze Shah Kotla track in the group stage matches, he would have no such excuse on the batting-friendly wicket.

The bowling has not been any better and the two teams' common weaknesses make it an even contest.


New South Wales v Trinidad and Tobago:

New South Wales are favourites to win the tournament after they breezed through the group stages with wins over the Eagles and Sussex. Neither of their opponents managed to reach three figures and although the Delhi wicket helped the NSW attack, they have arguably the most formidable bowling line up in the Champions League. Moises Henriques has been in terrific form with bat and ball and Brett Lee has an economy rate of just 2.75.

Trinidad topped their group with wins over Deccan and Somerset and though they have been the surprise package, they won both matches on merit and are clearly enjoying them. Dwayne Bravo took 7 wickets in the first group stage and they would get my vote for the tournament’s most enthusiastic side on the evidence we have seen to date.

Talking basically on the chances on paper, one is tilted to make it a fight for two – NSW Blues and Trinidad & Tobago. They have both maintained a clean slate. While NSW has an astounding bowling line up including Lee, Clarke and Hauritz, T&T almost replicates the West Indies team barring a few big names

The Caribbean side surprised everyone with their impressive show in the group stage where they ousted of Indian Premier League II champions Deccan Chargers.
Riding on a strong all round performance, Trinidad & Tobago humbled Somerset in their opening group encounter.

Even though, the Caribbeans started as underdogs, they have shown they are not just paper tigers as they have quite a few match-winners up their ranks.

William Perkins has got good starts at the top but he would looking forward to capitalize on them and get a big total against his name as the competition gets tougher and stiffer from here on.

On the other hand, NSW captain Simon Katich would rely on his side's all-round performance, which helped them to overcome South Africa's Diamond Eagles and English county side Sussex Sharks in their group outings.

With their fancied batting order boasting of Katich himself, Philip Hughes, David Warner and Moises Henriques, the Australian side would be hoping to slaughter the less experienced West Indian bowling attack.

On the bowling front, Brett Lee has been in great form and would definitely act as a thorn in the flesh for Trinidad batsmen.

But eventually the team that handles pressure well will come out victorious in the battle between the Calypso Kings and the Australian Kangaroos.

Author: Mona Gupta, Delhi.

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