The third game of the Champions League T20 will see the Central Districts play Chennai Super Kings at Kingsmead in Durban. This will be a Group A encounter and will follow the match between the Warriors and Wayamba.

Both Chennai and Central Districts were the winners of their respective domestic T20 cricket tournaments. However, looking at the batting line-ups of the two sides, it is easy to see why Chennai will start as favourites – 2/5 at SportingBet – as compared to Blue Square’s 5/2 for a Central win.

Speaking of the batting line-up, Chennai will have the services of Matthew Hayden (7/2 at BetFred) and Murali Vijay (7/2 at Boylesports, both to top-score for the side) at the top of the innings. This will be followed by the experienced hands of Suresh Raina (4/1 at Stan James), while MS Dhoni’s (11/2 at Blue Square) big hitting at the end can only prop up the batting.

Hayden hadn’t had the best of the previous IPLs, while contrastingly, the IPL 2010 was the making of Vijay as a frontline batsman. He hasn’t gone on to kick on from there, but the Champions League T20 could just be his stage. One gets the sense that one of these two openers could go on to get a big one for the Chennai side.

For the Central Districts, the absence of Ross Taylor – bought over by the Bangalore side – and Jacob Oram – injured – will hit them hard. In their absence, the batting will revolve around captain Jamie How (7/2 at Bet365) and another New Zealand international, Peter Ingram (4/1 at Bet365), both of whom should bat in the top three. What will be interesting to see is whether Matthew Sinclair (4/1 at Blue Square) will be able to shun off his Test-match-like batting and get a move on in this format of the game.

What will worry the Central Districts is that the absolute lack of experience beyond the top three batsmen. Tim Weston (7/1 at Blue Square) and Kieran Noema-Barnett (6/1 at BetFred, both the top-score for the side) follow the top three according to the bookmakers, but a look at their record does not inspire too much confidence.

Difficult to see how can Central win this one unless the Chennai Super Kings capitulate.

Tips:
Favourites: Chennai Super Kings (2/5 at SportingBet)
Top Chennai batsman: Matthew Hayden (7/2 at BetFred)
Top Central batsman: Matthew Sinclair (4/1 at Blue Square)