CSK in do-or-die battle Vs Warriors

Port Elizabeth: It's a three-way battle for the two semi-final spots from Group A of the CL T20 as IPL champions Chennai Super Kings take on South Africa T20 champions Warriors in a must-win game here on Wednesday.

The Warriors with three wins from three matches are atop the points table with a Net Run Rate of +0.975, while the Bushrangers with three wins from four games are in second with a NRR of +0.366. Chennai with two wins from three games are placed third, but they have an enviable NRR of +2.567.

The equation is pretty clear. A win will take Chennai through to the semis, while the Warriors and Bushrangers will battle it out on the NRR depending on how close the game is. However, if the Warriors beat Chennai, they will take the Bushrangers along with them to the last four stage.

Chennai cannot afford to make any mistakes. The loss in the super over in their previous game on Saturday would surely have pushed them on the backfoot, but skipper MS Dhoni's boys will back themselves to come good in Wednesday's game.

Both their batting and bowling have shown their potential in the tournament. Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Anirudha Srikkanth and S Badrinath have all found the sweet spot on their bats. The bowling too has been spot on with Doug Bollinger, Albie Morkel, L Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan and R Ashwin containing runs as well as picking wickets at regular intervals.

Ashwin had an off-day in the last game when he was hit for 23 runs in the super over, but he has been by far among the best performers in this edition of the tournament having taken seven wickets from three games at an economy rate of 6.67.

Chennai won't want to change their combination ahead of the Wednesday's game, except that they will like Morkel to retain full fitness and play ahead of Justin Kemp.

The Warriors, who have won all their three games, will hope that the law of averages does not catch up with them. It surely will be heartbreaking for them to be knocked out of the tournament because of a lesser Net Run Rate.

Skipper Davey Jacobs will again hold the key for the team's batting that has been over-reliant on him. He's played the sheet anchor role to perfection, while Mark Boucher and Ashwell Prince are the other two batsmen who have been among the runs.

Their bowling though is stronger and Chennai's batsmen will have to deal with some serious pace and bounce with the likes of Rusty Theron, Makhya Ntiniand Lonwabo Tsotsobe all in good touch. Their spinners, Johan Botha and Nicky Boje have also been in good form and can slow down the proceedings at will.

This is too close a game to call, but it will go down to the wire for sure.

Warriors beat Stags to enter Semis

 Elizabeth: Ashwell Prince and Davey Jacobs put on 147 runs for the first wicket as the Warriors beat Central Stags by six wickets in match 12 of the 2010 Champions League T20 competition at Port Elizabeth.

The team from South africa have thus assured themselves of a semi final berth.

Earlier Jamie How's second successive half century helped Central Stags survive an early loss, and a quiet period of play against the spinners, to finish with 175 in their must-win game against the Warriors.

How was supported by an inventive burst from Kieran Noema-Barnett in the end overs, setting Warriors a challenging target in front of their home crowd.

Stags elected to bat first after winning the toss and lost Peter Ingram in the very first over the match for nought.

However, How was in an aggressive mode from the word go as he thrashed the bowlers all around the park in his innings of 88 from just 57 balls. How hit 12 boundaries and three huge sixes in his blinder of an innings.

Brad Patton joined in the fun at the other end, using Tsotsobe's pace and Ntini's angles to pick boundaries and scored a handy 24 in 18 balls before he was judged lbw to Nicky Boje. The Powerplay went for 63 runs.

But introduction of two spinners Nicky Boje and Johan Botha slowed the run rate and in the process Boje picked up his second wicket getting rid of the out-of-form Mathew Sinclair.

The double-strike forced How to downshift a gear but How soon sensed the need of runs and resumed his normal services hitting Nicky Boje and Ntini all around the park.

Kieran Noema-Barnett who joined How took centre stage in the late overs as his cameo of 53 from 34 balls was a treat for the spectators in the stadium.

Finch helps Victoria Clinch first win

Centurion: Aaron Finch carried his bat through the innings for Victoria and played the knock of the tournament, hitting an unbeaten 93 off 60 balls to chase down a target of 165 runs posted by Central Stags at the SuperSport Park on Wednesday. His knock was punctuated by 11 fours and 3 sixes and brought about Victoria's much-needed first win in the Champions League.

Aiming to turn the tables, the teams suffered illness worries ahead of the game. The big blow for Victoria came in way of Brad Hodge being unavailable. On the other hand, Adam Milne and Mitchell McClenaghan woke up sick for the Stags.A win for either team could prolong their stay in the tournament, making this match important for both of them. The toss went Bushrangers' way who chose to bat first.

After being asked to bowl, Peter Siddle struck twice in the first over for his team, taking out Peter Ingram (0) and Timothy Weston (2), which left the Kiwi team with a recovery job early in the match.

The experienced duo of Adam Sinclair and Jamie How tried to prevent any further casualties but could do it for only 27 more runs. A slash off Sinclair (14), while facing John Hastings, brought out a dive by wicketkeeper Mathew Wade who pouched it nicely, leaving the Stags reeling at 30/3.

Sinclair's dismissal followed the recovery phase Stags were hoping for, with George worker providing the missing thrust in the Stags. In fact, Workers' intent rubbed off to skipper How whose unconvincing knock started showing signs of coming back on track.

The partnership swelled up to 53 but unfortunately that's where it ended for the Stags with Worker (29 off 25) being snapped up by the spinner Bryce McGain.

But what transpired after that was close to a nightmare for the Victorian team. Skipper Jamie How - getting no support from the other hand - took matters in his hand and launched a counter-attack that saw him amass 77 runs in 55 balls, studded with 10 fours and 3 sixes.

The 18th over hurt the Victoria team the most where Stags notched up a boggling 28 runs. The momentum provided by How finally saw his team reach a competitive 165 runs in their allotted 20 overs.

For Victoria, Peter Siddle was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Clint McKay, John Hastings and Bryce McGain took a wicket apiece.

The Bushrangers' openers looked methodical in their chase and notched up a partnership of 40 runs, when, in the fifth over, Rob Quiney (15) was dismissed by Seth Rance that was soon followed by the suicidal run-out of Mathew Wade (9), reducing the Australian team to 49/2.

That left Skipper David Hussey do a Jamie How and take the team out of troubled waters. Aaron Finch, on the other end, looked pretty comfortable during his stay and was scoring better than a-run-a-ball. He soon registered his half century that firmly put Victoria in charge of the chase.

Fifty partnership came after Finch's half century but it was soon followed by the breakthrough Stags were after. A kicked-up delivery took the edge of Hussey's bat for a simple catch for wicketkeeper Timothy Weston, bringing the match back in balance.

It was now up to all-rounder Andrew McDonald to give Finch the support he needed to take Victoria home. But How's bowlers didn't support him and gifted a few easy runs away by way of bowling full-tosses.

With 25 needed of 12 balls, it could still have gone either way. But wickets in hands and Finch determined to finish it himself, there was not much Stags could have done. He hit the first ball of 19th over for a six, making his intentions pretty clear. Thirteen runs came off the penultimate over and the Aussie team needed almost a similar over to end up victorious.

A four off the first ball edged Bushrangers closer. The man of the moment - Aaron Finch - stamped his authority on the match by hitting a six over long-on to finish it off and bring about leaps and hugs in the dug-out.

Victoria lost their first game to Warriors by 28 runs while the Stags were outdone by Chennai in a one-sided game that they lost by 57 runs.

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.