MATCH: Cape Cobras v Trinidad and Tobago
DATE: Tuesday, October 4, 2011
TIME: 1600 hours IST (1030 hours GMT)
VENUE: M Chidambaram in Chennai
Cape Cobras and Trinidad and Tobago will face off in their last league game on Tuesday at Chennai, with both teams having the chance of going through to the semi-finals.
Past Record:
The Cobras (3/4 at
SportingBet) have had a mixed tournament of sorts, having won one, lost one and drawn one game (due to rain). They began with a win against the New South Wales Blues, before going down to the Chennai Super Kings and having their game against Mumbai Indians rained off in Bangalore.
Trinidad and Tobago (11/10 at
Bwin) qualified for the main draw of the Champions League T20 after winning both their qualifiers, but went down in their first two main games off the last ball. First, Mumbai Indians beat them, chasing down 99 with great difficulty, before New South Wales Blues scraped through to the Super Over and then to a win. Trinidad and Tobago finally tasted a win against Chennai, defending a score of 123 on a dusty Chennai track.
Side-effect:
This is a must-win for both teams. With Trinidad and Tobago on two points and the Cobras on three, a loss will put them out of the tournament. However, if Trinidad and Tobago win, they will still need to await the result of the final league game in their group, while if Cobras come out trumps, they will be through to the semi-finals.
Team News:
The Cobras would probably be secretly glad that their match against the Mumbai Indians got rained off after the opposition had piled on the runs. However, what they need to immediately look at is their bowling attack, something that has not got going as well as their batting.
Herschelle Gibbs (7/2 at
Blue Square) at the top, Owais Shah and JP Duminy (5/1 at
Ladbrokes) in the middle and Justin Kemp down the order make for a good batting line-up, but the bowling has allowed the opposition to get away. What will worry them even more is that the tracks in India in this early part of the season, are way more bowling-friendly than any other. Too much pace on the ball is probably the issue, but Dale Steyn and Charl Langeveldt have not been able to do a job.
Trinidad and Tobago used the Chennai track to perfection for their bowlers, against the home side. Sunil Narine was unplayable and while he has the Golden Wickets, for the most number of wickets in the tournament, his economy of 4.3 is the best among the teams who have played in the main draw. Kevon Cooper has chipped in with some fine spells for the nature of pitches in India but what would have refreshed the TT side is his batting towards the end.
What impressed was the change they made at the top – William Perkin coming into the side in place of Jason Mohammad and immediately sent out to open. This allows some security for the TT team in the middle of the innings with Darren Bravo (4/1 at
Boylesports) at four and Daren Ganga at five.
Who is hot?
Interestingly, with all the attention on Narine, Samuel Badree may not have got a lot of wickets but with an economy of 4.5, he is doing an exceptional job as well. Cobras will need to find some answers. The South African franchise could be looking at Robin Peterson to deliver them an all-round performance.
Prediction:
Trinidad and Tobago to beat Cobras in this one.
