Champions League success feels good for Lee

Source - ptinews.com

Architect of New South Wales' Champions League Twenty20 triumph, blond speedster Brett Lee said he always strives to rise to the big occasions and it was immensely satisfying to shine in tonight's final against Trinidad & Tobago.

NSW were in tatters before Lee's 31-ball 48 powered them to a competitive 159 for nine and the tearaway pacer returned to claim two early wickets to unhinge T&T.

Lee, who bagged both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards, said he is a big-match player and is happy to have made his mark in the all-important summit clash.

"I think my game is coming up well and I'm enjoying it. I live for special moments like this and want to do well in big moments. When the crowd gets behind me, it becomes special and I'm happy I did well tonight," said the pacer.

Symonds looking to get away from his past

Source - indiatimes.com


Insisting that his troubled days are a thing of past, mercurial Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds on Tuesday said he is looking for a fresh start in the Champions League Twenty20 scheduled from October 8.

Symonds is a crucial player for Indian Premier League champions Deccan Chargers, who will open their campaign against Somerset on October 10.

Symonds, who was sacked from the Australian team and stripped of central contracts following repeated alcohol-related misdemeanors, said he is focused on doing well for Deccan Chargers.

"There is no impact. It is over. I am relaxed now. Coming back to Hyderabad and playing for Deccan Chargers is exciting," he said.

Talking about the Champions League, he said weather would be a major factor in deciding the matches.

"It depends on the weather. It will be interesting to see how it will be. Personally, I am prepared to be flexible for weather," Symonds said.

When pointed out that the inaugural edition of the IPL in India was not good for Deccan Chargers, who finished bottom of the table then, Symonds said he doesn't want to think about the past.

"Indian people are superstitious. Ok, they were tough games. That is forgotten. We will give our best shot and we can win," Symonds said.

As he mingled and joked with the mediapersons, Symonds was asked why he ended up being the bad guy so many times, to which he replied, "Someone has got to be."

Meanwhile, Deccan Chargers Captain Adam Gilchrist said the team is not under any pressure as it is the champion of the Twenty20 World Cup.

Asked how he saw the competition from other teams, Gilchrist said it would be tough.

"If you see the lists of players, there are big names. But big names does not mean that you are going to win. What is important is the spirit," he said.

Stylish batsman VVS Laxman said he wanted to continue the good form that he showed for the English county side Lancashire recently.

"We could not do net practice in the last several days as it was raining. But I did well for Lancashire. I am looking forward continue the same form," he said.

Places up for grabs for tour of India: Ponting

Sydney, Oct 19: Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting says the national selectors and he will have to take some tough decisions while deciding on the batting line-up for the seven-game one-day international series against India. "The selectors and myself are going to have a bit of thinking to do over the next few days as to what we do with the batting line-up," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ponting, as saying at Sydney Airport prior to his departure on Monday evening. Ponting welcomed the inclusion of opener Shaun Marsh and wicketkeeper Tim Paine in the squad, saying they possessed the required capabilities to deliver in a tough series. "But whichever way we go there we know we’ve got very good depth in our batting with someone like Shaun coming back in, so hopefully we get it right on the morning of the first game," he said. Australia currently lead the ICC one-day rankings by four points from India, who surprisingly failed to advance beyond the group stage at the recent Champions Trophy tournament in South Africa. Australia won that tournament, but Ponting predicted the series in India would be a "great test for us". "They will be particularly hard to beat in India, they always are," Ponting said. Ponting said he hadn’t seen much of uncapped left arm spinner Jon Holland apart from a spell in the nets before last year’s Boxing Day Test, but had heard good reports. "Everyone believes he has a good future," Ponting said. The leading scorer in the Champions Trophy, 34-year-old Ponting said he hadn't picked up a bat for a week and a half. "I’ve played more golf than I have cricket, I went down to Melbourne on the weekend and went to the races and just got some time away," Ponting said. (Agencies)

‘Bowlers did the job for us’

Hyderabad, Oct 18: After sealing their semifinal berth in the Champions League Twenty20 with a comprehensive six-wicket win over Somerset, New South Wales skipper Simon Katich heaped praise on his bowlers for doing a commendable job in the League A match here today. "The bowling made the difference today.

The pacers, including Stuart Clark, as well as the spinners came out with tight bowling. Our bowling was fantastic during the powerplay which helped restrict the opponents," Katich said after the match. Led by Stuart Clark (3/15), NSW restricted Somerset to an unflattering 111 for seven before overhauling the target in 11.5 overs. However, not quite satisfied with the standard of fielding of his side, Katich said he expects improvement in that department of the game in their final-four encounters. Asked what are the areas he would like to work on before going to the semifinals, Katich said, "We have to intensify our fielding. Sharp run outs, good catching - all these play important role in a Twenty20 match.

"His Somerset counterpart Justin Langer, who ended his first-class cricket career today, admitted that his batsmen failed to negotiate the NSW bowling attack. "It’s quite disappointing to lose a match in this way.

We could not attack before their steady bowling. Both (Stuart) Clark and (Nathan) Hauritz bowled beautifully," Langer said. (PTI)

Trinidad beat Eagles by 24 runs

Hyderabad, Oct 18: Trinidad & Tobago confirmed their semi-final berth by beating Diamond Eagles by 24 runs in their Super Eight match of the Champions League on Sunday. Chasing a target of 214, the Eagles could manage 189 in the alloted 20 overs losing 5 wickets.

Earler, Adrian Barath led a stunning Caribbean onslaught with a marvelous 41-ball 63 to power Trinidad & Tobago to a massive 213 for four against Diamond Eagles in a League A match of the Champions League here today.

Barath, who was playing his first match of the event, was jittery in the beginning, but once he got his rhythm he was at his destructive best.

Barath played second fiddle in the 66-run opening wicket partnership with William Perkins (35) and was magnificent in his 76-run stand for the second wicket with Lendl Simmons, who contributed a quick fire 40 off 25 balls.

Before being bowled by Dillon du Preez, Barath entertained the crowd with four fours and equal number of sixes while Perkins decorated his innings with three fours and three shots over the fence.

Navin Stewart’s scintillating 11-ball 33 at number five before Kieron Pollard’s 23-run cameo resulted in the Caribbean rattling up the highest score of the Twenty20 tournament.

Stewart put on an amazing display of power-hitting in the 19th over when he smashed du Preez for 26 runs, ruthlessly hitting him for three sixes and two fours.

Perkins, who has been in ominous form, yet again began solidly hitting Victor Mpistang for a four and a six in the very first over of the match.

Barath, playing his first match of the event, though was living dangerously as he attempted many shots off Cornelius de Villiers but missed, luckily didn’t get any edge.

Perkins was on song on the other side as he smashed Victor for an off-side six, followed it up with a four and hoicked another six in his next over.

Barath also got into action, went for a hardly slashed cut off D du Preez and just managed to clear the ropes at third man and then hit Ryan McLaren for two boundaries.

The Caribbean openers made the most of the power-play as they amassed 64 runs in the first six overs.

Thandi Tshabalala, the off-spinner, brought a huge relief for his side when he bowled Perkins, who slashed hard but missed the shot completely and the partnership was broken.

But the smile on his teammates’ faces was momentary as next man in Lendl Simmons hit the first ball for a massive six and packed the next ball for a point boundary.

De Villiers was brought back into the attack but the paceman hardly got any respect as he was creamed for 21 runs in that over by the duo.

Ryan McLaren provided the breakthrough when he disturbed the timber of Simmons but by then he had done his job as he cracked six boundaries and a six in his knock.

Pollard continued with the way he has been batting and hit two sixes before being caught by Alan Cruger off Ryan Bailey.

Brief score: Trinidad & Tobago 213/4 WKD Perkins 35, A Barath 63, LMP Simmons 40, ND Stewart 33* Eagles 189/5 (PTI)

NSW seal semi-final berth

HYDERABAD, Oct 18: Stuart Clark did the spadework and David Warner then set the tone of the chase as New South Wales crushed Somerset by six wickets with 8.1 overs to spare to book a semi-final berth in the Champions League on Sunday.

Clark (3/15) and his bowling colleagues first restricted Somerset to an unflattering 111/7 and Warner (40 off 16 balls) then came down hard on the English side as NSW cruised to 112 in 11.5 overs, losing four wickets and recording a thumping victory that earned them a semi-final berth.

Chasing the modest target, the Australian team was off to a flying start with Warner cracking six boundaries and two huge sixers during his brief stay as the first five overs yielded 57 runs.

NSW suffered the first loss when Warner, who started on an attacking note by hitting two fours off Charl Willoughby (1/30) in the opening over, fell to Omari Banks (1/28) in the fifth over.

Warner took 14 runs from the first three deliveries off Banks with the help of one six and two consecutive fours but the bowler retaliated soon when Warner's ambitious shot found Jos Buttler at long-off.

Medium pacer Zander de Bruyn (2/19) then removed Philip Hughes (18) and Daniel Smith (20) with successive deliveries in the ninth over to complicate matters as NSW reached 86/3. However, skipper Simon Katich (18 off 11), who cracked four boundaries, stood there to complete the formalities.

Earlier, Katich had won the toss and elected to field and Somerset’s run-rate never really soared with Clark, brilliantly supported by Brett Lee (1/15), making life difficult for them.

Clark, who extracted sharp bounce from track at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, inflicted the early blows on Somerset by removing both the openers Craig Kieswetter (13) and Justin Langer (5) in the fifth over.

Before the British could recover from the twin loss, Clark again rocked them by returning James Hildreth (6) in the seventh over, leaving Somerset struggling at 39/3.

Somerset, after suffering those early jolts, kept losing wickets at regular intervals as spinner Nathan Hauritz (1/14) and Lee also soon joined the party.

Hauritz got rid of Peter Trego (3), while Lee removed Omari Banks (15) after the batsman had dragged a rising delivery onto his stumps.

Bruyn (23) waged a solitary battle against the rampaging NSW bowlers, but just when he was looking dangerous, young pacer Moises Henriques’ (1/20) incoming delivery pegged back his stumps.

It was surprising to see Wes Durston (20 not out), who had slammed a sterling fifty against Diamond Eagles to come down at number eight and the right-hander played an unbeaten 13-ball cameo to help Somerset cross the 100-mark. Brief Score: Somerset 111/7 Z de Bruyn 23, WJ Durston 20*, SR Clark 3/15 New South Wales 112/4 DA Warner 40, DLR Smith 20, Z de Bruyn 2/19 (11.5 overs) (PTI)