RedBacks crush RCB, reach semis

Royal challengers - 154 (19.5 overs)

Ross Taylor - 46

Dillion Preez - 46

SAUS - 155/2 (18.2 overs)

Michael Klinger - 69

Daniel Harries - 57

South Australian RedBacks won by 8 wickets.

hats all from us here today. Do join us for the double header tomorrow as the Central District Stags take on the Warriors at Port Elizabeth. However, the blockbuster match of the day promises to be the clash between Chennai Super Kings and Victorian Bushrangers. Until then, this isSid V, saying good night on behalf of my colleagues Shashank and Srivathsa

Klinger: I am super proud of the boys. It was a wonderful all-round performance. If we play our best, we have the talent to challenge any opposition. The support is just great and the dressing room environment is great. We had to work a lot in the field because this tournament demands it. We are improving with each game in the fielding. Tait is a fantastic weapon for us and all the bowlers supported him well. The boys are pretty pumped and it is a good sign. I knew that Ross Taylor was the key and he could take the game away from us. It was a huge relief when we got Taylor out and we managed to contain Cameron White towards the end. We are eagerly waiting to get to Johannesburg for the next game.

Kumble: We should have added another 15-20 runs. We lost a lot of wickets in the middle intervals and Ross Taylor's wicket was the key. Some good hits from Dillon du Preez pushed us past 150. We should have bowled better as we did not pick up wickets. We missed Jacques Kallis in this game and we have to go all out and win our next few games.

Michael Klinger is the MoM for his aggressive 69 off 57 balls.

The South Australian Redbacks have made light work of what looked like a tricky total. Steyn and Kumble had an off day today, and once the bowlers were carted all over the park in the power-play overs, it was always difficult for RCB to bounce back. Klinger and Harris carried on from where they left off against the Mumbai Indians. They were in a murderous mood and took the attack by the scruff of the neck. RCB struck back with 2 late wickets but the damage was already done.

Annihilation, demolition and utter carnage are the only words to describe the SAUS' performance tonight. Before the tournament they were an unknown entity and all the talk was how strong the RCB side was, but that fact was smashed to smithereens by a rampaging SAUS side. Klinger and Harris showed how potent a opening combination they were as they carted the bowlers all over the park. No one was spared as the openers butchered them mercilessly. It was a walk in the park for SAUS who now storm into the last 4 of the competition.

Bushrangers look to hunt the Stags

Centurion: After a 28-run loss in the opener that is sure to have dented Victoria Bushrangers' pride, the champion T20 side from Australia will be hungry for success when they take on trans-Tasman rivals Central Stags in their second game here at the Centurion on Wednesday.

The Bushrangers were left shell-shocked by South African club Warriors who played out of their skins to upset the Aussie team, who are a pedigreed T20 lot having won the KFC Big Bash on four out of the five occasions.

The Australian team, who were among the favourites in the first edition last year before they lost in the last four stage to eventual champions New South Wales Blues, need a win to keep their hopes alive in this tournament. Another loss on Wednesday means that they will need to win their remaining two games to make it to the last four stage.

On paper they are definitely stronger than the Stags, but they will be cautious knowing full well that overconfidence will do them more harm than good. The Stags too are coming off a crushing defeat at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings, who beat them by 57 runs on Sunday and face the ominous task of facing up to the Bushrangers' strong bowling attack.

At the top of the order, Peter Ingram, Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair will have to get the Stags off to a good start if they do not repeat of their collapse against Chennai where their individual scores put together read more like a telephone number.

On the other hand, the Bushrangers too will have to ensure that their batsmen keep their cool. Most of the top order batsmen managed to get starts in the last game, but fell just when it seemed that a partnership was being strung together.

A must-win game for both teams, the losing side can kiss their chances of a semi-final finish goodbye.

Chennai awaits Wayamba

Centurion: The Indian cricket platter – which of late has been full of Sri Lankan cuisine – will be served a fresh island delicacy garnished with Twenty20 flavour on Wednesday, when the Chennai Super Kings take on the Wayamba Elevens at the SuperSport Park here on Wednesday.

The Asian neighbours' Champions League 2010 campaign has hit an altogether different roadmap. While Wayamba's graph failed to take off against the Warriors, Chennai's has gone through the roof with a 57-run humiliation handed out to the Central Stags from New Zealand.

The Indian avatar Chennai has very subtle wrinkles to iron out, but deep furrows could be witnessed in Wayamba's first game, which warrant immediate attention.

To start off Wayamba's list of woes, they can be grouped with Guyana as the least impressive team on show on all three fronts. Whether it's bowling, batting or fielding, their armour seems full of chinks and in need of a quick pit-stop to run repairs. The team would be praying for Mahela Jayawardene to come good, which, if he does, will provide even a bigger opportunity for the impressive Jeevantha Kulatunga and Kushal Perera to use the long handle. But what Mahela does upfront would undoubtedly decide where Wayamba's quest ends up.

In comparison, Chennai won impressively without contributions from their stars like Mathew Hayden and Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni who didn't bat and Michael Hussey who wasn't picked. And with the middle order well taken care of by S Badrinath and Anirudha Srikkanth, Wayamba may be seen hiding for cover if Hayden and Co. get their act together.

Both teams look spin-heavy but the telling contrast may lie among the faster-men. Chennai's trio of Doug Bollinger, L Balaji and Albie Morkel not only bowled with control but also chipped away at wickets to let two quality off-spinners – the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan and the exciting R Ashwin – to take control in the middle.

Wayamba clearly lag behind on that front. Chanaka Welegedara, Farveez Maharoof and Thisara Perera at best look a second-choice attack and they may leave Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath a lot of ground to cover, in a lost cause.

It won't be impractical to conclude that should Chennai send Wayamba packing, they will have one foot inside the door to semifinals. With a run-rate even better than group-toppers Warriors – who have played one match more than Chennai – a win is all that Dhoni be hoping for to cement a spot in the top-two.