Champions League unveiled
India will host a multi-nation Champions League Twenty20 competition in October to cash in on the growing popularity of the sport’s shortest version, organisers said on Monday.
The tournament, featuring the top domestic T20 teams from seven countries, will be held from October 8-23, Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi said in a statement.
The 12-team event will offer six million dollars as prize money which Modi, who also heads the Champions League, said was the “biggest prize in world cricket at a domestic competition level.”
India will field three teams, Australia, South Africa and England two each, while New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies will have one team each.
Pakistan, which was earlier nominated to send one team, will not feature this year due to Islamabad’s refusal to send sporting teams to India amid political tensions between the neighbours, Modi said.
“Unfortunately, the Pakistan government won’t give them (the players) clearance to come to India, and since Saturday was our cut-off date, it’s not possible to have a team from Pakistan this year,” Modi said.
India’s Deccan Chargers and Bangalore Royal Challengers, which contested the IPL final in Johannesburg on Sunday, gained a direct entry into the Champions League along with Delhi Daredevils, who topped the IPL preliminary round.
Australia will be represented by their domestic T20 finalists Victoria and New South Wales, while Cape Cobras and Eagles will fly South Africa’s flag.
The two English county teams will be finalised on August 25 when their domestic Twenty20 Cup ends.
Otago (New Zealand), Trinidad and Tobago (West Indies) and Wayamba (Sri Lanka) will be the other teams in the fray in the 23-match event.
The 12 teams will be divided into four groups with the top two from each group advancing to the next round. The top four teams in the second round will move to the semifinals.
The draw will be held in London on June 23, two days after the International Cricket Council’s World Twenty20 ends. The match venues will be finalised later.
The Champions League was earlier scheduled to be held in December last year but was postponed following the Mumbai terror strikes in November which killed 166 people.
Source: iAfrica AFP
Standard Bank Pro20 Wrap
 Cape Cobras, 2009 Standard Bank Pro20 Champions |
Herschelle Gibbs put on a one man show, to help the Nashua Cape Cobras win the Standard Bank Pro20 Final on Saturday 21 February at Sahara Park, Newlands, Cape Town.
Gibbs opened the batting with Proteas and Cobras captain Graeme Smith. Smith didn’t last long as he fell for two runs. Gibbs played a classic Pro20 innings, he started slow, built his momentum and then unleashed the fury at the end. He scored 87 runs off 62 balls not out, but the brilliance of the innings came from his ability to stay calm and maintain the run rate as wickets fell at regular intervals. |
Posting a total of 147 the Cobras had their tails up when they came onto the field to defend their score. Charl Langeveldt bowled a superb 4 overs, for 20 runs picking up 3 wickets. The Eagles were never going to achieve the total and fell behind the run rate from the first over. Another Cobras bowler that needs to be mentioned is Vernon Philander who took 3 wickets for only 17 runs from his 3 overs.
So the Nashua Cape Cobras with their Proteas filled team have finally put a season together and won a trophy. Well done Cobras!
Looking back at the Standard Bank Pro20 series, The sponsors need to be congratulated on a magnificent campaign.They have continued to innovate the game of cricket in both South Africa and the world. How inspiring it is to see domestic cricket selling out stadiums, I hope this carries over into the test series against Australia soon to get underway.
Standard Bank did not only innovate the in-stadium experience, they also continued to take a unique approach to covering the series with a major focus on social media. They invited bloggers from around the country to attend the games and write for the Standard Bank blog Pro20. They even flew some of us around the country to attend the final. They also communicated on Twitter through their Pro20 account. And if that wasn’t enough, included in their SM strategy was a Flickr stream and a YouTube channel which can be found here
Some highlights from the series had to be the two semifinals that both went to the third leg, then to a power over as both games were tied. That will be remembered as one of the great evenings in domestic cricket in South Africa.
Henry Davids 112* for the Cobras was amazing as was the 92 scored by Herschelle Gibbs in the second semifinal to keep the Cobras in the competition.
| Morne van Wyk scored the most runs in the series with his 269 for the Eagles, followed by Justin Ontong’s 229 for the Cobras.
It’s not often in Pro20 cricket that a bowler gets mentioned, but CJ de Villiers has a fantastic Pro20 campaign, this is a man to watch for the future, he bowled 32.5 overs, conceded only 205 runs taking 14 wickets. Again Charl Langeveldt took the most wickets with his 16 for the Cobras. |
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The Titans got done in by the weather, having two games rained out. They’ll be back next year. And don’t forget about the Gestetner Diamond Eagles, they reached the finals of both the MTN Domestic championship and the Standard Bank Pro20, the work that Corrie van Zyl has done needs to be commended.
Standard Bank Pro20 explodes, goes to power over
The Standard Bank Pro20 series exploded this evening, in what could never have been scripted both 3rd leg semifinals were tied, with a power over deciding the out come.
The Gestetner Diamond Eagles stole the game from the Cheverolet Warriors in the power over, Dillon du Preez performed under pressure in the power over hitting a 6 from the first ball, with partner R Bailey they hit 16 runs off the over.
All the pressure was on the Warriors, and after their early celebrations they were just not focused enough and didn’t come close to getting the 17 needed for victory.
All the excitement of the power over has cleared my memory of the actual game. The Warriors batted first but could only post a lowly 97 runs in 19.3 overs. Another stand out performance by the Eagles bowler CJ de Villiers taking 5 wickets for just 12 run in 3.3 overs.
The Eagles could have put this one away easily, but the found themselves 11/3. Dippenaar and Elger came together and steadied the ship, the Warriors fought hard through Juan Theron’s bowling. when the Eagles got a single off the last ball, the Warriors burst into premature celebration thinking they had won the 3 leg semifinals.
The Eagles will now travel to Cape Town to face the Cape Cobras.
Just as we were recovering from that tied match the Nashua Dolphins and the Nashua Cape Cobras also played their game to a tie. The Dolphins needed 17 runs off the last over which they got to the amazement of the crowd.
Then the power over came, the tension built, even more drama was about to unfold. Dolphins batted first and only managed to make 3 runs, Jayasuryia out, bowled first ball. Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith came to the wicket only needing 4 runs off 6 balls, the drama continued, Smith was run out at the non strikers end on the first ball. Gibbs thrives under pressure, he took two runs from the third ball and the next one went for four. Gibbs and Grant Rowley had a heated argument after the winning boundary.
During the game the Cape Cobras posted a defensible 148. with JP Duminy again top scoring with 53, well supported by Justin Ontong’s 44 and another solid 34 from the captain Graeme Smith.
The Dolphins struggled loosing HD Ackerman and Jayasuriya very early, but it was Johann louw that hit 17 runs from the last over to take it to the power over.
So the Final will be in Cape Town, Saturday 21st at 17h30. Nashua Cape Cobras vs The Gestetner Diamond Eagles.
Standard Bank semifinal wrap
Sunday brought the business end of the semifinals to the Pro20 teams, unfortunately the rain again played a hand in the out come of both games.
The first game of the day had the Eagles and Warriors going at it at the Sahara Oval. The Warriors found themselves trying to defend their total of 117, but not enough overs had been bowled in the second innings when the rain started to fall. The Warriors got off this time, the game will be replayed this evening. Watch out for CJ de Villiers this bowler is the find of the Standard Bank Pro20 campaign 2009.
The Cape Cobras beat the Dolphins by 38 runs on the D/L method, Herchelle Gibbs helped the Cobras post the highest Pro20 total at Kingsmead of 191. Gibbs played a spectacular innings scoring 92 off 57 balls, he go to his half century off 40 balls, the following 42 came from just 17 balls.
Sanath Jayasutiya set the tone for the Dolphins going for a duck from the first ball, by the time the Dolphins had 50 runs on the board they had lost four wickets. Then the rain came when they were on 59/5, they were never going to win this one and the D/L method confirmed that.
The Dolphins and Cape Cobras are one a piece in the three leg semifinal, it’s going to be a cracker in Durban on Wednesday evening.
Nashua Dolphins win away semi final
The Nashua Dolphins set the Cape Cobras a record total to chase for the win at Newlands. The total of 162 would have been the highest total chased down in a Pro 20 game at Newlands.
Sanath Jayasuriya who was bought for R 1 000 000 for the Standard Bank Pro20 campaign came out blazing for the Dolphins, hitting Rory Kleinveld for three six’s in a row, then followed them up with a 4, Jayasuriya took 23 off the over. He was eventually out for 41 off 24 balls. The ever reliable HD Ackerman top scored for the Dolphins with 62 runs. Ackerman is now the top scorer in the Standard Bank Pro20 2009. The Cobras fight back showed their quality, while Jayasuriya was at the crease the Dolphins were on track to score 200.
The Cobras were favorites to win with only 162 on the board, but it was not to be, the early loss of Henry Davids and Herschelle Gibbs found the Cobras at 4/2. This brought captain Graeme Smith and JP Duminy together, currently one of the best bating pairs in world cricket. Smith and Duminy started the recovery, as soon as they got going JP Duminy was caught behind by a stunning catch by wicket keeper Smit trying to run it to third man.
Smith was then caught on the boundary for 32 from 28 to take the Cobras to 63-5. At 68-7 Jayasuriya took a wicket from his first ball in Pro20 cricket. Telemachus and Levi (46) put up some resistance but it was too little to late, the early loss of wickets were to much to overcome.
The Cobras have some hard work to do, their Proteas filled team has failed again.
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