Diehard cricket fans would not have been as slow off the mark as I have been, and have undoubtedly be watching the early stages of the Champions League Twenty20 competition with interest.
The 2014 Champions League Twenty20 is the sixth edition of Champions League Twenty20. Despite a couple of editions being played in South Africa, this year’s spectacle is being held in India. The tournament features domestic Twenty20 teams from Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
After a three match qualifying process, New Zealand’s Northern Knights and Pakistan’s Lahore Lions joined three IPL teams, two BBL teams, two Standard Bank Twenty20 teams, and the Barbados Tridents (CPL).
Although the teams play for a huge cash pool, the tournament has generally failed to attract widespread attention. However, the 2014 Champions League Twenty20 event has featured some massive performances that warrant critical acclaim. Here’s the catch-up from the first few games:
- Kane Williamson – Williamson hit the fastest Champions League Twenty20 hundred. Off just 48 balls against the Cape Cobras (an attack which featured a host of past and present South African bowlers). Williamson is not known for his big hitting which makes the feat even more impressive – as is his latest decision to try bowling left handed (he chucks it with his right).
- Sunil Narine – Narine is essentially unplayable in Twenty20 cricket. This held true against the Lahore Lions. He enjoyed figures of 4-1-9-3. His first game against Chennai wasn’t bad either (4-0-9-1).
- Cameron Delport – Short but sweet. The Dolphins player smashed 34 off 9 including 7 boundaries and a broken bat against the Chennai Super Kings.
- Other mentions – Mitchell Marsh carting the last two balls off the game for six to help the Perth Scorchers win their first game. Suresh Raina scored 90 off 43 balls (CSK scored 242 off their 20 overs in this one). Andre Russell and Aiden Blizzard scored big runs too.
Predictions
Indian or Australian teams have only ever won the tournament and that looks set to continue again in the 2014 Champions League Twenty20. Yet, this year the Australian teams do not appear overly appealing. I’m picking an IPL team. They simply play so much Twenty20 cricket compared to the other nations and are familiar with the conditions and venues. Here are some other predictions courtesy of Betfair.
Top Run Scorer – Kane Williamson is already way ahead thanks to his qualifying form. However, there is no guarantee his Knights team will make the playoffs. Suresh Raina looks good but is only paying 2.64. I prefer Glenn Maxwell at 7.4 or Robin Uthappa at 10.
Top Wicket Taker – I can’t go past Tim Southee here paying 14. He already has 7 wickets in the tournament (again I didn’t check the specific rules of the qualifying tournament so be careful with these options depending on the bookmaker from our list to the left you choose). Back to Southee. He’s proven in Indian conditions and is likely to benefit from cheap wickets when bowling at the death. Worth the punt even if the Knights get eliminated.
Winner – There’s not great money on any of the Indian teams. Nevertheless if I was abetting man my money would go to Chennai just ahead of Kings XI Punjab. Quick tip – If your going to pick one of these as the eventual winner, you may as well have them winning each head to head game and the final in a multi too.
