Aswath.B

What is it with the yellow uniform? Teams sporting it, end up winning more often than not. The Aussies win almost everything. They won in Yellow the WCs 1999,2003 & 2007 and now CSK have won IPL3 and ACLt20. So is it really the team that is winning?

Ofcourse it is. CSK were clinical all through the Champions League, winning all but one of their games (they lost in a one over eliminator to the Bushrangers). They batted, bowled and fielded well throughout the tournament. The had their batsmen making big runs, Vijay and Raina firing at the top and their spinners too did a tremendous job. Not often do you see an Ashwin outshine a Murali but the stats in this tournament has it that way.

A wonderful journey has come to an end for CSK. The teams will now be broken up for the auction and a new CSK will be formed come November. What is heartening for them is that their owners have been involved in cricket for decades together and know their stuff.

CSK are now the CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS and have painted the planet yellow.

Aswath.B

No no. Its not the KPL. This is very much the CLt20 blog. I was talking about the place I am in right now. It’s a small town called Shimoga. The reason I wasn’t blogging in the last few days is because there is no proper internet connection here! The good part is there is Star Cricket and I can catch all the CLt20 action. CSK had a super outing last evening and played like real champs. 200 was amazing.

The Mumbai Indians are almost MumBYE Indians. They are terrible on the field and need a miracle now. Their batting is very very good. Keiron Pollard. He is the most amazing T20 player. Oh man. What an entertainer! His sheer hitting makes you go WoooooooW each time. He hits these bowlers as though they are school kids bowling at him. The six off Tait he hit has to be one of the best hits ever. He swats away a 150plus KPH delivery like a fly; into the next city. That’s how far it went! No boundary is ever enough. But the problem for MI in this tournament has been no total is ever enough! That’s how bad they have been bowling and fielding. Just enjoyed another treat from Pollard. What a shame it would be to lose a side like MI this early in the tournament.

Kingsmead, Durban, 9/11

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Aswath.B

Oh Yes! 9/11 had struck again.

This was the first meeting between the two sides. It was mass murder. The Pride of CSK lions pounced on the helpless Stags.

The beginning was slow though. The fleet stags produced some spicy bouncers and rocked the CSK top order. They were clueless and looked like club cricketers out there. Then some sensible batsmanship from their middle order, rebuilt their den and ended up with a solid 151/4 thanks to a couple of good knocks.

If the CSK batting looked funny, the Stags’ approach was hilarious. They never settled in or had the run rate under control at any point in their innings. Bollinger  and Morkel bowled very well and controlled the start. Then came       L. Balaji alias Lion Balaji (thats what we call him in this part of the world). To everyones surprise, he bowled the first maiden of CLt20, 2010 and produced a super spell taking 3 wickets in his 4 overs.

Murali sporting the no. 800 jersey and R.Ashwin too chipped in with wickets. Everyone had contributed and it was without doubt, “a Lion hearted effort” from the CSK team. They won easily.

The Bull ring, Wanderers, Jo’urg, 10th September 2010

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Aswath.B

It was Eid alright, but MI need not have been so generous on the field. It was said before the match that the Lions were the underdogs. Well. They just realized that they were the Lions and came up with an awesome batting performance;made 186/5 in 20 thanks to a fluent 71(48) from Vandiar.

Sachin’s captaincy just made you feel worse. Some inexplicable moves, bowling Ali Murtaza in the end, an over each to Sathish and JP Duminy and 2 to Pollard. Mclaren bowled the opening over of the innings and may be after that Sachin thought that he had done his job and another over he would get too friendly with his countrymen! Nothing else can explain playing him over Bravo and giving him just one over! The other MI bowlers were gifting runs anyway.

The Mumbai Indians batted well though. Very well. Tendulkar played an awesome knock of 69 in 42 balls, Pollard entertained for a bit and they made 177-6, falling short by 9 runs in the end.

If only there had been some sense in the MI bowling. If you needed to summarize MI’s efforts on the field, it was like Bhajjis slip during his first delivery. Anyway, full credit to the Lions for pulling it off. “RRRRRooooooooooaaRRRRR”

Aswath.B

When someone walks up to you while you are having coffee and asks you casually; “which team do you think is going to win ACLt20 2010?”, chances are that you will answer more from your heart than from your head. I don’t blame you one bit.

Ask the same question to a person in India, and chances are 90 % of them would pick one among the three IPL teams.

Lets talk about the Chennai Super Kings first. They have a very well balanced side, did well in IPL2 in South Africa, reaching the semi finals and there is no reason why they cant do well this time.

The Mumbai Indians. For one, they have Sachin Tendulkar. Need I say more? Anyway, they have Duminy and Mclaren who are well aware of how the wickets play there, Jonty is there too! We also know what damage Malinga and Keiron Pollard can do. They stand a good chance as well.

RCB next. They have enough number of quality South African players in their side and also the captain of Victoria. Oops, I know what you are thinking. No no. This is not match fixing. Cameron White is playing for RCB. They had a great run in IPL2 and finished runners up to Deccan Chargers. Think RCB can win? Why not?

The sides from Australia, the Bushrangers and the Redbacks play all their cricket on similar wickets. The Bushrangers have won 4 T20 championships and are masters at it. What chance do they stand? A big one! The Redbacks might not have Pollard, but are still a very formidable side.

The Wayamba XIs are not much talked about but one cannot take them and the Central Stags lightly. They are champions in their leagues afterall. And we all know what T&T did in the CLt20 last time.

The Warriors and the Lions know the conditions more than any other side and have played enough cricket on those wickets to know how to win. So can they win? You would not bet against that.

Finally, Guyana. Its not that I have saved the best for the last and all the build up is going to culminate in me saying that the team from Guyana are clear favorites. But what I am going to say is no different from what I have been saying earlier. Do not count them out.

After all, this tournament is called the Champions League and its all about awesome entertainment. There is no one clear favorite.

So sit back and enjoy the tournament. Its gonna start soon. Until then keep singing and start getting into the mood.

whoooooooohoooo….oola olaaaa….baby i like it….

Oooooho….ola ola ho…..ooooho….ola ola ho….

Aswath.B

Here are the results of some of the warm up games :-

• Mumbai Indians beat Dolphins at Duraban
• CSK beat Dolphins by 7 runs after making 121/5 at Durban
• Wayamba beat Titans by 42 runs after making 203 at Centurion
• Redbacks chased down 150 successfully against central stags at Benoni

• The Mumbai Indians are in Durban already!
• Muralitharan will sport a number 800 jersey for CSK
• Jacob Oram is injured ( what a blessing in disguise for CSK)
• Kieron Pollard has recovered and is raring to go. Remember, he was hit by a Dominic Cork bouncer in the Friend’s Provident T20 final

• No Flintoff for CSK
• RCB have compensated the respective home teams of Kallis(Warriors), Ross Taylor(Stags) and Cameron White(Bushrangers) USD 200,000 for retaining them in the squad
• Pollard and Bravo will represent the Mumbai Indians

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, S Badrinath, M Vijay, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, A Srikkanth, L Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Michael Hussey, Doug Bollinger, Thilan Thushara, Albie Morkel, Matthew Hayden, Joginder Sharma.

Warriors: Davy Jacobs, Ashwell Prince, Colin Ingram, Mark Boucher, Johan Botha, Nicky Boje, Craig Thyssen, Juan Theron, Makhaya Ntini, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Justin Kreusch, Garnett Kruger, Arno Jacobs, Lyall Meyer, Jon Jon Smuts.

Victoria Bushrangers: David Hussey, Ryan Carters, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Clint McKay, Glenn Maxwell, Dirk Nannes, James Pattison, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade.

Wayamba: Jehan Mubarak, Mahela Udawatte, Mahela Jayawardene, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kushal Janith Perera, Rangana Herath, Chanaka Welegedara, Ajantha Mendis, Farveez Maharoof, Thissara Perera, Damitha Hunukumbura, Shalika Karunanayake, Isuru Udana, Sameera Zoysa.

Central Districts: Adam Milne, Bevan Griggs, Brad Patton, Brendon Diamanti, Doug Bracewell, George Worker, Jacob Oram, Jamie How, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Matthew Sinclair, Michael Mason, Mitchell McClenaghan, Peter Ingram, Seth Rance, Tim Weston.

Mumbai Indians: Shikhar Dhawan, Sachin Tendulkar, Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R Sathish, Ali Murtaza, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, JP Duminy, Lasith Malinga, Ryan McLaren.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Cameron White, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Dillon du Preez, B Akhil, Abhimanyu Mithun, Nayan Doshi.

South Australia: Cullen Bailey, Daniel Harris, Graham Manou, Daniel Christian, Gary Putland, Peter George, Callum Ferguson, Michael Klinger, Jake Haberfield, Tim Ludeman, Shaun Tait, Tom Cooper, Chris Duval, Cameron Borgas, Aaron O’Brien, Cullen Bailey.

Guyana: Ramnaresh Sarwan, Royston Crandon, Lennox Crush, Travis Dowlin, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine, Jonathan Foo, Derwin Christian, Christopher Barnwell, Esuan Crandon, Devendra Bishoo, Assad Fudadin, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Richard Ramdeen.

Lions: Alviro Peterson, Thami Tsolekile, Craig Alexander, Shane Burger, Richard Cameron, Werner Coetsee, Cliffe Deacon, Zander de Bruyn, Robert Frylinck, Neil McKenzie, Ethan O’Rielly, Aaron Phangiso, Jean Symes, Jonathan Vandiar, Vaughn van Jaarsveld

Guyana beat Barbados in the finals and are on their way to the ACLt20 in South Africa. They prevailed in a low scoring thriller.

Barbados made a cautious and a competitive 134/5 in their 20 overs. It is these kinda totals that make chasing difficult and the team batting second is at all points of the chase, in a state of indecisiveness. Guyana almost paid the price for it but managed to just get their nose over the line, just in time with a wicket and a ball to spare.

What an amazing conclusion to an exciting tournament.

In the third place play off, T&T made light work of Jamaica beating them by ten wickets.

Guyana will now join Group B in ACLt20 along with the Mumbai Indians, Lions, Redbacks and RCB.

Just can’t wait for the action to begin!!

The winner will be on the flight to South Africa for the ACLT20, 2010.