The much-hyped Champions League concluded yesterday, with Lalit Modi adding yet another bullet point to the achievement section of his CV. He managed to bring together the domestic T20 Champions of leading cricketing nations, minus Pakistan, under one roof to find champion among champions. Pakistan’s omission can find its reason in bureaucratic battlefield and had no cricketing background.
Top three teams from the IPL; winners and runners up from Australia, South Africa and England; and winning teams from the domestic T20 leagues of Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand slogged to win the inaugural event. Hosted by India, the IPL teams were considered frontrunners to win the trophy, taking into account the familiarity factor and home advantage.
It’s strange how often Indian teams always remain the frontrunners to win multi-team international events. It’s another story that more often than not they have to board an early flight back home due to infamous premature exits. This has been the norm for the Indian national team of late and same was on show in the Champions League as well. None of the IPL teams made it to the semifinals; so much so that the much-fancied Deccan Chargers couldn’t even reach the Super-8 stage.
Australian and South African teams were understandably considered favorites as well, more so the Simon-Katich-led New South Wales (NSW) Blues from Australia and Cape Cobras of South Africa captained by Andrew Puttick. Unpredictability, however, remained the buzzword of the tournament, with it being the first club event of international repute and most of the teams not being familiar with each other. The team that was probably the least known among all and took the most advantage of its unpredictability was the Caribbean team from the island of Trinidad & Tobago (T&T). They surprised all and sundry by their team spirit, Darren Ganga’s shrewd captaincy and Kieron Pollard’s breathtaking strokeplay.
Before the semifinal stage, three teams that looked apart were NSW, Victoria and T&T. While T&T won all their matches, the only match NSW lost was to T&T. The tournament was in a way sign of things to come as far as International T20 scene is concerned. The semifinal lineup clearly indicated that Australia was coming to terms with the T20 format and taking it into their dominant embrace.
The four semifinalists included NSW and Victoria from Australia, Cape Cobras from South Africa and T&T from West Indies. While the two Australian teams faced each other in the first semifinal, the other one was played between T&T and Cape Cobras. The presence of many players with international caps helped NSW blunt Victorian challenge and book a place in the finals. T&T, however, got a stiff fight from Cape Cobras before a Bravo flurry of sixes took them home and to the final.
A Caribbean victory in the final would have been a shot in the arm for a dispute-plagued West Indies cricket, while victory for NSW would have set the clock in motion for Australia to win next year’s T20 World Cup – the only ICC trophy missing from their glittering cabinet.
The islanders began well but they were up against a resolute team, out there to prove a point and tell the cricketing world that they have mastered the nuances of T20 as well. NSW seemed done and dusted until Brett Lee made his way in – not with the ball but with the bat – and launched an onslaught on T&T bowlers who were running for cover. After helping his team put up a competitive 159 on board, Lee came in running hard and broke the back of T&T batting with two quick wickets. Kieron Pollard was a threat but Brett Lee played a role in his dismissal as well by taking his catch just inside the ropes and then bagging the man of the match award.
As the last T&T wicket fell, a different breed of Men in Blue came running from all corners of the ground. It was the breed that belonged to Australia and one that announced that T20 too is now their domain.
JS on Cricket 