Saturday’s double header in the T20 Champions League comes from Bangalore. The Cape Cobras return to action and they face a big test against the Victoria Bushrangers who look well set for the semi finals while the Royal Challengers face Delhi Daredevils. Cape Cobras v Victoria: Virtually through to the semi-finals after a comprehensive win over Royal Challengers, Victoria Bushrangers would strive to consolidate their position when they take on Cape Cobras in their Champions League match in Bangalore. The Cobras wrapped up qualification from the initial group stage in double quick time and they have had a week without a game. They beat Bangalore on this ground in the opening game when JP Duminy excelled with the bat and they subsequently crushed Otago by 54 runs. A strong factor in the Cobras favour in terms of a semi final place is the carry forward points they have already banked from the first group stage. A Cobras win would eliminate the Royal Challengers and make it very difficult for them to be caught by the Daredevils who they face on Monday.Victoria were superb when beating Royal Challengers Bangalore with 7 wickets in hand and 25 balls remaining on Thursday. After RCB got off to a flyer, some tight bowling, particularly from Andrew Mcdonald, restricted the home side to 127/6 and their batsmen made no mistake. The boost to their net run rate could also be crucial depending on results elsewhere. Skipper Andrew Puttick, who has cracked a century and figures second in the list of highest run getters in the tournament so far, would be the mainstay of Cobras' batting order. But the captain would also rely heavily on the likes of middle-order batsman J P Duminy and experienced Herchelle Gibbs for some timely contributions in Saturday's match. Meanwhile, experienced Brad Hodge and David Hussey would lead the Bushrangers' batting department. The Bushrangers looked a promising outfit when they went off to a winning start in the tournament, beating Delhi Daredevils, but soon lost their rhythm and suffered a 15-run defeat at the hands of inexperienced Wayamba Elevens of Sri Lanka. However, the … [Read more...]
CL T20 cricket Match Preview: Bangalore Vs Victoria
The T20 Champions League moves on to the second group stage on Thursday and the opening game in this phase of the tournament sees Bangalore Royal Challengers take on Victoria on 15th of October (Thursday) in what could be an exciting game of the Champions League T20. Bangalore qualified the hard way; they lost a thriller to Cape Cobras in their opening game but a convincing win over Otago saw them through. They once again have home advantage on a wicket where they have twice scored 180+. The Royal Challengers have only been forced to use 6 batsmen in the 2 matches so far with Kallis and Uthappa both amongst the runs at the top of the order and Dravid, Kohli and Ross Taylor holding things together towards the end of the innings. Victoria effectively sealed their passage from Group D when they thrashed the Daredevils by 7 wickets in Delhi. Although they went down to Wayamba on Tuesday, their net run rate was sufficiently in credit to ensure they remained in the tournament.Victoria’s games have been low scoring affairs but with the likes of Hodge, White, David Hussey and Mcdonald in the line up, they may well be suited to the conditions at Bangalore which have been easier for batsmen than those they have experienced in Delhi. The most expensive of the 5 main bowlers has gone for just 6 per over though those figures have been achieved on a low scoring ground. Although Victoria were beaten on Tuesday their primary focus was on protecting their advantage in the net run rate. Royal Challengers have proved themselves with the bat and if the wicket behaves and conditions are fine, we could have a high scoring and hopefully exciting game. Both teams have similar table standings and a good, formidable batting lineup. Both teams have played 2 matches each, won and lost 1 game each. However when it comes to Net Run Rate the Challengers (+1.839) have an edge over the Bushrangers (+0.136) and we know the NRR is an important factor in this format of cricket. So far we’ve seen many close shaves already in the tournament but with a strong mindset in both teams and especially when the batsmen are in good form only time … [Read more...]
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