Champions League Twenty20 - Group B Preview

Champions League Twenty20 Odds

B1 – NSW Blues +500
B2 – Diamond Eagles +1500
B3 – Sussex Sharks +950

B1 – NSW Blues +500

Equal tournament favourites NSW could easily be an Indian Premier League team in its own right. No need to spend millions of dollars drawing the best players in the world to this team, they already live and play in the Australian state of New South Wales. The most high profile of the Australian state teams NSW is brimming with the kind of talent that can win big matches and hence big tournaments, a big reason as to why they have been offered favouritism. Australia’s spearhead bowlers Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken and Stuart Clark are joined by the likes of captain Simon Katich, tyro David Warner and the exquisite touch of Phillip Hughes. They will certainly feature in the later parts of the tournament.

PLAYER TO WATCH

David Warner: Drafted into the Australian Twenty20 squad at the start of the summer, Warner exploded onto the scene against South Africa with a bruising 89 off 43 balls but he failed to emulate that when brought into the one-day squad. Is one of a growing number of players who are pigeonholed as T20 specialist. Has been waiting for the Champions League to bolster his experience and market value for the upcoming IPL.

TEAM

Simon Katich (capt), Phillip Hughes, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Moises Henriques, Nathan Hauritz, Doug Bollinger, Aaron Bird, Stephen O'Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Steve Smith, Daniel Smith, Dominic Thornely, David Warner.

B2 – Diamond Eagles +1500

With fewer big name players than their South African compatriots the Cape Cobras, the Eagles have a better record on the domestic scene, which says they have the right combinations. They also have, like their national team, a ruthless edge bordering on boredom but that has won them three domestic competitions in the past four years. Led from the fore by Proteas 38 test veteran Boeta Dippenaar, Eagles are ranked as outsiders to win the inaugural tournament and aren’t tipped to make it out of the pool stage which would be a great tragedy as they have some potential.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Thandi Tshabalala: There are a lot of ifs when it comes to Tshabalala but for all intents and purposes he could be South Africa’s new front line spinner. That is of course if he is given a chance, if can keep his cool and if he performs well at this tournament. His fourone-dayers so far have been less than impressive but that isn’t to say he won’t improve. His role is important in the T20 format as slow bowlers are generally considered much harder to deal with.

TEAM

Boeta Dippenaar (capt), Dillon du Preez, Morne van Wyk, Mthandeki Tshabalala, Adrian McLaren, Ryan McLaren, Victor Mpitsang, Ryan Bailey, Jandre Coetzee, Cornelis de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Reeza Hendricks, Alan Kruger, Rilee Rossouw, Shadley van Schalkwyk.

B3 – Sussex Sharks +950

Rounding out Group B is England’s other team in the tournament hand has some brilliantly named players. We start with William Beer, and move through to Yasir Arafat however, names aside, there are high hopes for this squad. Captained by Michael Yardy, who has failed to make the grade on the international level but excels on the domestic scene, the team does have the likes of current England player Luke Wright and former West Indies player Dwayne Smith. The team is also well known for the love of hyphens in their names with Robin Martin-Jenkins and Rory Hamilton-Brown causing much angst for scorers with their excessively long names.