The 2012 Champions League Twenty20 will be the fourth incarnation of this tournament. The competition will be held in four venues in South Africa, Cape Town, Durba, Centurion and Johannesburg from 9 to 28 October. This is the first time a Pakistani team has been involved.
Twenty20 cricket started in England ten years ago and has quickly become a huge part of the sport. Most test playing nations now have their own version of the IPL, and the Champions League features the best T20 teams (or franchises) from each country.
The tournament will have a qualifying stage, with two groups of three. The teams here are New Zealand's Auckland Aces, West Indian outfit Trinidad and Tobago, Pakistani debutants Sialkot Stallions, 2012 Friends Life t20 finalists Hampshire and Yorkshire, and Sri Lankan Premier League winners Uva Next.
Pool 1 of the Qualifying stafe features Hampshire, Auckland Aces and Sialkot Stallions. Hampshire won the Friends Life t20, losing only twice on their way to the final against Yorkshire. James Adams is their captain and an important part of their batting line-up. They feature plenty of players to have played in the T20 World Cup, including Danny Briggs, Glenn Maxwell and, most notably, Shahid Afridi. Hampshire are 26/1 (bet £10 to win £260) with Paddy Power. Auckland Aces will, like all New Zealand sides, be competitive, but a lack of quality may set them back. Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira and Kyle Mills will all feature for them. The unknown quantity in this group will be the Sialkot Stallions. They will open with the dangerous Imran Nazir, while down the order they have Shoaib Malik and Raza Hasan, who both impressed in Sri Lanka. They are a tempting 34/1 with Paddy Power.
Yorkshire, Uva Next and Trinidad and Tobago will contest Pool 2. Jonny Bairstow will be missing for Yorkshire, who are captained by 28 year-old batsman Andrew Gale. Their team is very young but, in opener Joe Root, they have a man selected by England for the Test tour of India. They are 26/1 with Paddy Power. Uva Next are are outsiders for the tournament, at 41/1 with bet365, but they have some quality as well. Thilina Kandamby, Upul Tharanga and DIlhara Fernando are all experienced at international level, while Umar Gul and Jacob Oram will be useful imports. The usually dangerous Trinidad and Tobago are severly handicapped will be severely handicapped, being without Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo, who all elected to play for their respective IPL franchieses. If they do advance, Paddy Power's offer of 26/1 on a Trinidadian victory look very attractive.
Now to the two South African teams: the Highveld Lions have been grouped with Mumbai Indians, Chennai Superkings, Sydney Sixers and the winners of Pool 1. Odds if 17/1 with Betfred indicate that bookies think they are unlikely to progress to the semi-finals. Alviro Petersen is their captain. Titans are the second home team, and they may be a genuine force on home soil, with AB de Villiers, Farhaan Berhardien, Martin van Jaarsveld and Jacques Rudolph all in their ranks. Their bowling may let them down, so they are a 15/1 shot with Sportingbet.
There are two teams from Australia's big bash competing in the Champions League. Perth Scorchers are captained by the experienced Marcus North while, in Paul Collingwood, they have a familiar name to English fans. Their team is full of experience, but they may lack the 'x-factor' to really trouble the IPL teams. They are 11/1 with Coral. Sydney Sixers have two stars from the World T20 in Player of the tournament Shane Watson and strike-bowler Mitchell Starc. Brad Haddin, Australia's test wicket-keeper captains them, and they look like the best team in South Africa apart from the IPL franchises. The sixers are 9/1 with bet365.
The two Indian teams in Pool A are Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils. The Kolkata Knight Riders are captained by Gautam Gambhir, who had a hit-and-miss World T20. In Brendon McCullum and Sunil Narine they have two T20 superstars, and Jacques Kallis is a top-class player in all formats of cricket. Shakib Al Hasan will be an important player for them, although it remains to be seen how much the South African wickets will turn. They are 7/1 with Coral. The Delhi Daredevils probably have the best top tfour in the competition, with David Warner, Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardena and Kevin Pietersen. Their bowling isn't bad either, with Morne Morkel supported by Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar, The Daredevils can be backed at 5/1 with Paddy Power to win the competition. They are rightful favourites.
Pool 2 will see Chennai Super Kings come up against the Mumbai Indians. Chennai Super Kings are led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo and Michael Hussey will add runs to the middle-order, while in Ravichandran Ashwin, they have India's front-line spinner. The Tamil Nadu outfit are a 13/2 shot with Sportingbet. Mumbai Indians are captained by Harbhajan Singh, but all eyes will be on Sachin Tendulkar. They might not be a great bet seeing as they have picked a lot of very T20 specialist players, such as Richard Levi, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith, and this type of player did not do very well out in Sri Lanka. They are anorther 13/2 shot with Sportingbet to win the competition.
17 Comments
