MATCH: Warriors v South Australia
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 2011
TIME: 1600 hours IST (1030 hours GMT)
VENUE: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Warriors will play their second game of the Champions League T20 this year when they take on the Australian side, South Australian Redbacks. This will be the fourth game of the tournament.
Past Record:
Warriors (11/13 at
Bwin) began the tournament with a thrill-a-minute ride against Royal Challengers Bangalore that they went on to win off the last ball. Needing 173 to win, the Warriors were left with much to do in the last 10 when they required 109 but Ashwell Prince and Johan Botha smashed them to a win.
This is South Australia’s (10/11 at
Stan James) first game but they go into the tournament having won the KFC Big Bash T20 in Australia. They had also qualified in the previous edition of the Champions League T20, where they got till the semi-finals.
And in the semi-finals, they were beaten by the Chevrolet Warriors, thanks to an excellent start from Davy Jacobs, his partnership with Colin Ingram and brilliant finishing by Nicky Boje. Later, Juan Theron and Tsotsobe had combined to squeeze the Redbacks and win the game by 30 runs for the Warriors. This is the only game that the two sides have played before.
Side-effect:
A win for the Warriors would take them closer to the semi-finals berth, leaving them needing only a win from the last two games, one against Kolkata and the other against the Somerset side.
On the other hand, the South Australian side would not only want to start off on a winning note but also avenge their semi-finals’ loss from the previous CLT20 at the hands of the Warriors.
Team News:
The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy in Bangalore was as easy as it could get for the batsmen, but the one at Hyderabad may need them to graft much more. While this should not disturb a winning combination for the Warriors, they will do well to ensure that they can tweak their game plan around.
For starters, JJ Smuts’ (9/2 at
bet365) fidgety batting at the top of the innings in Bangalore may work on the Hyderabad track given that it becomes more difficult when the ball softens. It may not be a bad idea if Johan Botha promotes himself to three as well, instead of going down at seven with Ashwell Prince being entrusted the responsibility to bat through the innings.
Juan Theron was smacked for aplenty in his first two overs but came back well to get three wickets in his third. His variations and tight lines would be necessary on a sticky wicket like this.
South Australia have a decent-looking batting but the big question is whether they can adjust to the Hyderabad pitch. Captain Michael Klinger (7/2 at
Ladbrokes) will hold the key while Callum Ferguson (4/1 at
Ladbrokes), dropped from the Australian side recently, will look to impress the selectors with his batting upfront.
Kolkata’s Rajat Bhatia had managed to tie the opposition down with his variations of pace and Daniel Christian will look to do a similar job for the Redbacks, while the decision that Klinger may have to take is whether to play one spinner or two. In case of the former, he has a choice to make between Nathan Lyon and Yorkshire leggie, Adil Rashid.
Who is hot?
The Warriors won the game against Bangalore thanks to the batting of Prince and he will be the one to watch out for. For South Australia, Klinger had ended the previous edition with the most runs in the team and he will look to guide the ship from the front.
Prediction:
Warriors will have the edge but will need to be wary of the drastic difference in the pitch conditions.
