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...]
CL T20 Cricket match reviews: October 13
CL T20 has two games on Tuesday; Wayamba took Victoria and the Sussex clash with Eagles. Following is the match review of both the games. Wayamba v Victoria: Wayamba 118 for 9 (Vandort 42, Kulatunga 41, Harwood 3-14) beat Victoria 103 for 4 (Hodge 44*) by 15 runs. Player of the match SM Harwood (Victoria) Wayamba Elevens defeated Victoria Bushrangers by 15 runs in last Group D match but it was not enough for the Sri Lankan side to progress to the next stage of the event as they missed out on net run-rate. After posting a paltry 118 for nine on the board, Wayamba needed to restrict Victoria fewer than 83 to qualify for the next stage, but they failed to do so, thereby losing out a Super Eight spot to Delhi Daredevils and the Australian side. Daredevils will now play their first league match in Bangalore on Saturday, and will return to the home turf to round off their league outing.Brad Hodge top-scored for Victoria in their wayward run-chase with unbeaten 44 off 52 balls, while Andrew McDonald remained not out on 27 off 16 deliveries. For Wayamba, Chanaka Welegedara was pick of the bowlers, scalping two wickets for 18 from his four overs. Earlier, Shane Harwood (3/14) ripped apart the Wayamba Elevens batting line up while Clint MCKay (2/24) and Andrew McDonald (2/19) complemented him ably to restrict Wayamba to a paltry 118 for nine. Jeevantha Kulatunga (42 off 39 balls) and Michael Vandort (42 off 44) were the lone bright spot in the Wayamba batting chart with the duo sharing 81 runs for second wicket but still could not manage to guide the Sri Lankan side total past 120 mark. Defending the modest total, Chanaka Welegedara gave Wayamba a dream start, getting the vital wicket of Rob Quiney with Victoria yet to open their account. 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. He … [Read more...]
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