Published: Sep 19, 2014, 06:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 19, 2014, 01:09 AM (IST)
A strong Cape Cobras side with plenty of international players take on a confident Northern Knights in the third match of the Champions League T20 2014 (CLT20) main stage. Abhijit Banare looks at some key clashes to watch out for.
Very few teams have the luxury of picking their playing XI, all of whom have an experience of international cricket but Cobras do have such a team. In fact they had 12 but they are extremely unlucky to miss out on a quality player in JP Duminy out with an injury. However, the Cobras are up against Knights who are well prepared for the tournament and also showed it in the qualifiers with a 100 per cent record. Below are some key players of both sides and whom they are up against.
Kane Williamson vs Robin Peterson: He is one of the top young players in international cricket adept in all forms of the game. Williamson showed his class in the qualifiers and will be ready to take on the Cobras. There’s little doubt that he is one of the finest players of spin. On tracks where spinners do get some purchase, it will be interesting to watch him against Robin Peterson. The left-arm spinner recently revealed that he and Dane Piedt are preparing for a new variation which he will use in the CLT20. Let’s see whether it catches Williamson off-guard or not.
Anton Devcich vs Burean Hendricks: Devcich will be against a clever bowler. Hendricks has played a few T20s for his national team as well. The Knights have a solid opening pair and like Williamson, Devcich too is a free-flowing player. One thing to watch out for is Hendricks trying to fox the batsmen with his typical deceptive slower balls. However, Hendricks will be a must-watch player in the death overs as well. If the Cobras hold back Hendricks at the start, Devcich and Williamson will be up against Vernon Philander.
Hashim Amla vs Tim Southee: The Cobras are missing a star player in Duminy and Jacques Kallis has opted to play for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). In the absence of two experienced players, the Cobras will be looking to Amla for providing quick starts up the order. He was the top-scorer for Cobras in the Ram Slam T20. A classy stroke-player, Amla will have a task of scoring against an equally experienced Tim Southee who has been exceptional in the qualifiers. Amla even has a task of scoring against Trent Boult but the swing bowler will be looking to dislodge another aggressive opener mentioned below.
Richard Levi vs Trent Boult: Levi is one of the inconsistent but exciting player to watch out for. He will flash his bat and go for wild swings early in hi innings. A swing bowler like Boult who has been successful at the start of the innings will loom to get the better of Levi.
T20 is an unpredictable format but it would be a triumph of ‘age is just a number’ cliche if an aggressive 36-year-old Justin Kemp faces 39-year-old Scott Styris. And there are players like BJ Watling, Ish Sodhi who were impressive in the qualifiers apart from Cobras captain Justin Ontong and pacer Charl Langeveldt.
Complete coverage of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 here
(Abhijit Banare is a reporter at CricketCountry. He is an avid quizzer and loves to analyse and dig out interesting facts which allows him to learn something new every day. Apart from cricket he also likes to keep a sharp eye on Indian politics, and can be followed on Twitter and blog)
