Published: Sep 20, 2014, 03:36 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 20, 2014, 07:09 AM (IST)
Northern Knights‘ quality all-round display despite the rain interruption is a big fillip for New Zealand cricket moving forward with three top Internationals going from strength-to-strength. R Vishal discusses the events that unfolded in the match.
Cape Cobras bowling: Stacked with a bowling line-up with a good armoury of the best of current and old South Africans, the line was full and rather amateurish; akin to a European Associate Nation miserably trying to find their feet in the subcontinent death bed. Charl Langevelt, Vernon Philander, Rory Kleinveldt were all trying to ‘york’ or bounce the Northern Knights openers and not a single trick paid off for the wayward bowling attack. Anton Devcich and Kane Williamson deserve all the praise in the world for their inventive strokeplay intertwined with their natural strokemaking.
Knights with shiny fortunes: In the first three overs, Williamson and Devcich found proceedings rather laboured and were unable to connect to the bad, jucy, ‘hit me’ deliveries. After they crossed that stage, there were half-chances aplenty as the natural athletes that the South Africans are tried everything to get an early breakthorugh (we are talking about the fielders here). From Hashim Amla’s heroic effort at long on, saving four runs for his team after originally trying to latch on to a catch to the top edges and the log-hops that eluded the fielders, Cobras did not get the rub of the green. The unit were evidently bogged down and ended up being sloppy in the middle overs.
The opening stand: 140 runs in a T20 contest against a decent bowling attack! Irrespective of the conditions, the feat was monumental and would have been a treat to the lovers of the shorter formats. In an exquisite display of power and finesse, Devcich and Williamson started steadily, then went after the bowling and innovated in the last leg of their partnership.
Kane Williamson: Nothing seems insurmountable for Killer Kane as he make giant strides towards the top echelons of the batting ladder. From a painstaking Test century to a staple T20 blitzkrieg, Wiliamson has done it all. Sterner Tests lie ahead of the 24 year old but in the effortless manner in which the former New Zealand Under-19 captain has been combating obstacles, he should be jostling for the top spot with the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Trent Boult: The par score was always going be a herculean task with Trent Boult bowling the hapless Stiaan van Zyl off a classic left-armers’ outswinger. It was the very first ball of the chase and one could sense the direction of the match there and then. Boult is making strides towards emulating his role-model Wasim Akram. Tim Southee was spot on too and floored Robin Peterson twice in an over with toe-crashing yorkers. New Zealand potentially have the most potent young strike force in the world.
Complete coverage of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 here
(R Vishal is a journalist, beach lover, Chelsea FC fan and a wannabe globetrotter. Being a loyal student of the Tariq Iqbal school of cricket stopped him from fulfilling his dream of becoming a cricketer. Now, he just writes and talks about the game; He can be followed on Twitter @vishhell)
