Champions League T20 - The Final Showdown - Flair Versus Professionalism

The battle lines are drawn for the finals of the inaugural Champions League T20 - it is going to be the flair and natural attacking game of the Caribbean team versus the disciplined and strategic professionalism of the team from Down Under.

The momentum and the crowds, the bookies and even the Gods seem to be with the red brigade from Trinidad and Tobago. They have swept all before them, much in the same fashion as the hurricanes in that part of the world. And the boys do seem to be in a hurry, going from strength to strength as the tournament progressed. There is a lot of joy, both in their cricket and for those who have waited a long time to see the Windies style of cricket of the 70s.

The onus of planning for the finals seems to lie entirely on the shoulders of Simon Katich, the NSW Blues captain, as the T&T play their cricket very simply - straight from their heart. Katich's problems start right from the toss - if he wins the toss, should he bat first, relying on the form and power of Warner, while telling Hughes not to go for the singles and to play dot balls if they cannot be hit for a boundary or over the ropes? Surely, the bowling of the T&T side is their weaker link and the initiative gained from the start by attacking this chink in their armour. Or should he choose to bowl first and have Henriques complete his quota on the trot, to avoid a replay of the episode with Pollard? Should he prefer to let the opposing batsmen play a longer innings to give Dwayne Bravo and Pollard fewer balls to smash out of the park? Obviously, butter is out of the day's breakfast menu for the Aussies - you cannot take the chance of having butter-fingered fielders like the Cobras, knowing that the T&T boys prefer the aerial route, as seen from the high number of sixers they hit in their innings. Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Moises Henriques, Doug Bollinger and Nathan Hauritz have been successful in restricting their opponents to small scores, except for the blitz from Pollard, and this might prompt Katich to favour putting the opposition win. But I feel, this is one toss Katich would not mind losing, as T&T have put up the tournaments's highest score when they batted first.

All said, one can expect a real contest on the cards. The stakes are high - David Warner and Phil Hughes may be fancying their chances of overtaking Duminy as the tournaments top scorer; Dwayne Bravo would like to prove he is the leading all rounder and Pollard would like to enhance his reputation. All this is addition to the ultimate prize - the Champion's Trophy.

My take - I would put my money on the Trinidad and Tobago team - they are on a roll, jell well as a team enjoying each other's success, enjoy their game, have adjusted to their adopted home ground with a 100% win record, much to the disbelief of the actual home team, the Deccan Chargers, and they have beaten the NSW Blues once before, so there's nothing to stop them from believing that they can do it again.

Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Trinidad & Tobago

Brian Charles Lara played for the Trinidad & Tobago team in the Caribbean domestic matches. With that one statement, one can conclude the introduction to this team. But let's say more - the team has 2 pairs of brothers - Dwayne & Darren Bravo and Daren (the captain) & Sherwin Ganga. Dwayne Bravo has come to be the face of West Indian cricket in recent times - he is always in the thick of the action, be it batting, bowling or fielding, as seen from his performance in the IPL-2 and the T20 World Cup. The Stanford 20/20 Cup was established in 2006 and Trinidad & Tobago have an impressive record in the 2 seasons it was held. They lost the finals to Guyana in 2006 but cantered to a comfortable win in 2008 against Jamaica, to earn the right to represent the Windies in the Champions League.

Match Record:

Matches Played - 12
Matches Won - 8
Matches Lost - 3
No Result - 1

Players to watch out for:

Batsmen -
William Perkins, Daren Ganga, Denesh Ramdin & Kieron Pollard

Bowlers -
Dave Mohammed, Samuel Badree, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo

Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Wayamba Elevens

Wayamba in Sinhalese is North West and it is therefore no surprise that the Wayamba Elevens represent the North West Province in Sri Lankan domestic cricket, the local championship now being called The Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Tournament. Five teams participate in the domestic tournament, instituted in 2004-05. In the 2009 season finals, Wayamba beat Basnahira South to qualify for the Champions League as the lone team from the Emerald Isle.

Match Record:

Matches Played - 14
Matches Won - 11
Matches Lost - 2
No Result - 1

Players to watch out for:

Batsmen -
Mahela Jayawardene, the current Lankan captain, is the leading batsman for the team and has the experience and ability to be counted among the best; batsmen Jehan Mubarak , the captain of this side, Michael Vandort and all rounders Farveez Maharoof, K Lokuarachchi have played international cricket and are handy with the bat, while Mahela Udawatte is considered to be a promising talent.

Bowlers -
Ajantha Mendis, the mystery bowler, leads the attack and should be a thorn in the flesh of the sides that traditionally have a problem dealing with spinners; Rangana Herath lends variety to the attack with his left arm spin; K Lokuarachchi is the leg spinner and the pacers I Amerasinghe, Farveez Maharoof ensure that the bowling attack is well experienced.

Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Sussex Sharks

The Sussex Sharks won the 2009 Twenty 20 Cup beating the Somerset Sabres in the finals. Sussex, is supposed to be the birthplace of cricket, but the team had to wait for more than a century to claim their first English County Championship and this success was followed by a couple of more triumphs. Piyush Chawla followed the footsteps of his legendry compatriots Ranjitsinghji and the Nawab of Pataudi, when he was signed to play for the Sharks and Pakistani Yasir Arafat, the only Pakistani to feature in the Champions League T20, followed the example of the charismatic Imran Khan. Dwayne Smith of the West Indies was responsible for the Sharks win in the finals against the Sabres.

Match Record:

Matches Played - 57
Matches Won - 29
Matches Lost - 25
No Result - 3

Players to watch out for:

Batsmen -
Luke Wright, the English international, has a century against his name in this form of the game and can be counted on for some big hitting; Dwayne Smith, the West Indian, can add some Carribean flavour to this English side.

Bowlers -
James Kirtley is the leading wicket taker for this team; Yasir Arafat, all rounders Dwayne Smith and Luke Wright and Indian leg spinner Piyush Chawla provide variety in the bowling department.

Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Deccan Chargers

When the team was announced, everyone picked the Deccan Chargers as the favorites to win IPL-1. Big names like Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, Chaminda Vaas, VVS Laxman and the T20 World Cup winning team members Rohit Sharma and RP Singh being the reason for this thinking. However, the team finished as wooden spoonists inthe first edition, a key parameter being their inability to win a single "home" match. With the IPL-2 being played in South Africa, the Chargers did not have to worry about their dismal home record, and coupled with a captaincy change, with Gilchrist replacing Laxman, the team went from strength to strength to beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who finished one rung above them in IPL-1, in a well contested finals, thereby fulfilling their potential, albeit a year later than expected.

Match Record:

Matches Played - 30
Matches Won - 11
Matches Lost - 19

Players to watch out for:

Batsmen -
Adam Gilchrist, is a big match player and is awesome to watch when on song. One of the reasons for the team's success in IPL-2 was his ability to lead from the front; Rohit Sharma was in the running for the top batting honors in IPL-1 but did not have such a good run in the second season; Andrew Symonds can be destructive as he showed in a match against the Rajasthan Royals in IPL-1. However, he went from hero, after scoring a blazing century, to villain, in a matter of 20 overs, after allowing Shane Warne to milk his bowling, thereby handing the Royals an unexpected victory; VVS Laxman and Venugopal Rao can turn on the heat too.

Bowlers -
RP Singh is the teams main strike bowler, without a doubt. He has been consistent in both the IPL seasons and can be relied to be economic while also providing the team with early breakthroughs; Pragyan Ojha may well have been the spinner of the IPL seasons, even in the presence of more reputed and experienced spinners; Rohit Sharma made up for the lack of batting form in IPL-2 by being the surprise part-time bowler of the tournament, claiming a hat-trick in the bargain as icing on the cake.

Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Somerset Sabres

In the 70s, Somerset were represented by two of the biggest names, and most entertaining cricketers, in international cricket, best buddies Viv "Smokin' Joe" Richards and Ian "Beefy" Botham, in the English county. Add to this, Joel "Big Bird" Garner, and the team is strong enough to send shivers down the backs of their opponents. The current team may not be as strong, but they get their chance of representing England in the tournament, the format first being played in England to revive sagging spectator interest. Somerset lost to the Sussex Sharks in this year's Twenty 20 Cup, thereby qualifying as one of the two teams from England.

Match Record:

Matches Played - 59
Matches Won - 25
Matches Lost - 29
Matches Tied - 1
No Result - 4

Players to watch out for:

Batsmen -
Marcus Trescothick, the attacking southpaw opener seems to have rediscovered his love for the game and an appetite for runs; Justin Langer, is the captain of the side and the diminutive opener, who represented Australia and was part of the formidable opening pair with Matthew Hayden, should be among the runs;

Bowlers -
Charl Willoughby, Alfonso Thomas, Ben Phillips

Champions League T20 - Know the Teams - Otago Volts

New Zealand's domestic T20 Championship is called the State T20, after the tournament's sponsor - State Insurance and was established in 2006. Otago Volts were scheduled to play Canterbury in this year's finals of the State T20 tournament, but as the final was washed out, Otago Volts were declared winners as they finished ahead of Canterbury on conclusion of the league stage, thereby winning their first major trophy and qualifying as the only team from New Zealand to play in the Champion's League.

Match Record:

Matches Played - 20
Matches Won - 10
Matches Lost - 9
No Reault - 1

Players to watch out for:

Batsmen -

Brendon McCullum provided a dream start to the IPL when he went berserk for the Kolkota Knight Riders in their inaugural match against Royal Challengers, Bangalore, to record an amazing 150 plus. However, he has been unable to reproduce that form in subsequent matches and would also like to forget his stint as captain of KKR in IPL-2; Dmitri Mascarenhas is known for his big hitting as we saw in one over of Yuvraj Singh where he took Yuvi to the cleaners in an ODI; Aaron Redmond is a steady opener and fared reasonably well in the recently concluded Champions Trophy; Hamish Rutherford is the son of former Kiwi batsman Ken Rutherford and is quite an attacking batsman, unlike his father.

Bowlers -

Dmitri Mascarenhas, the all rounder, is capable of taking wickets and is considered as a specialist in the shorter versions of the game (and I am not being biased because we share the surname); Nathan McCullum, the younger brother of Brendon, should do well with his off-spinners; Ian Butler has represented the Kiwis in international cricket and has a reasonably good record.