CLT20- An unforgettable journey

CL T20 – An Unforgettable Journey

T20 cricket is the craze among the present generation in the 21st century. Regarded as the mostinnovative and attractive format of all the three, it continues to win millions of hearts worldwide. The journey started as a dream run with the introduction of the Indian Premier League in 2008 by Lalit modi.Then as a sequel to a blockbuster movie, Champions League T20 came as a sequel to IPL every year.

The first season of the Champions League was marred by the 26/11 incident. The Indian teamsthat had qualified that year were Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Superkings who were the championsand runners up respectively in IPL. But unfortunately, the event was completely cancelled, and we,cricket lovers were deprived of some fast paced T20 action.

The second edition of IPL was taken out of India in to the rainbow nation of the proteas. Thetable leaders were Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils at the end of thetournament. Therefore, the inaugural season of CL was held in the month of October last year in Indiawith 12 participating ‘champion’ teams. After a tough competition, New South Wales were declared asthe champion of the champions.

This year, CL T20 was huger and better.. for the three hot favourites of the IPL tournamentqualified for the battle of glory – “Champions League T20 2010”. Yes, it was the men in yellow – ChennaiSuperkings, the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. What awaited the Indian Champions in the nation of the Proteas became really nail biting and enthralling as the multilateraltournament progressed. The groups were arranged as follows : Each group consisted of 5 teams. GroupA had 5 tough sides… Chennai Superkings, Chevrolet Warriors, Victorian Bushrangers, Wayamba Elevensand the Central District Stags while Group B consisted of South Australian Redbacks, Royal ChallengersBangalore, Mumbai Indians, Highveld Lions and Guyana.

The opening match was between the Highveld Lions and the Mumbai Indians, one of the thensure shot contenders for the semifinals booth. The match went in favour of the Lions, though theageless wonder, Sachin continued to win millions of hearts. Chennai Superkings started their journeywith a thumping 57 run triumph over the Stags and the other Indian team Royal Challengers Bangalore also had a scintillating 9 wicket victory over Guyana.

FATE IN GROUP A:
Chevrolet Warriors won their first three games comprehensively and they were easily the bestside in the group till then. Chennai beat Wayamba in their next game but lost their third. VictorianBushrangers after losing their first encounter, won the remaining three. Wayamba and the Stags weresimply dismal occupying the bottom slots. Before the end of the last group A match between Chennai Superkings and Chevrolet Warriors, the points table was topped by Warriors with 6 points followed byBushrangers with 6 points…and following them were the Superkings with 4 points but with the highestnet run rate.

The skipper of the Warriors Davy Jacobs had a win percentage of 80% in the domestic season, so the prospect of getting to the semi finals was looking bleak. But in a most ‘fantabulous’manner, CSK beat the Warriors to make it to the semi finals as the winners of Group A along with theWarriors as the runners up. The Bushrangers were thus disqualified on the basis of Net run rate.

‘CHALLENGES’ IN GROUP B:
South Australian Redbacks won all of their group matches to reach headlong into the semis.Mumbai Indians won two out of their four games having a comparatively poorer net run rate than RoyalChallengers Bangalore who beat the Highveld Lions in their final game to make it to the semi finals againon the basis of net run rate. Guyana was simply out of colours for they lost all of their games…

THE SEMIFINALS :
The first semifinal went in favour of the Warriors where the Warriors outplayed the Redbacks inevery department of the game; the stars of the match being Jacobs and Ingram.

The second semifinal was a rainwashed game where the Superkings comprehensively prevailedover the rusty challengers. Suresh Raina swept away the game with his blistering knock to take CSK to amindblowing total of 174 in only 17 overs. The Challengers were easily trapped by the strong andimpeccable bowling attack of the ‘Chennai Lions’ and managed only a mere 123.
THE FINAL ROYAL CLASH:
The battle of 2 champion teams – Chennai Superkings and Chevrolet Warriors… an unpredictableand surely nail biting clash. It was the fight for glory; one… to be the champion team of the world… It wasa highly awaited match ofcourse.. so millions of viewers all over the world stayed glued to their seats soas not to miss a single moment of this historic do or die encounter.

You cannot exactly call this a thriller of a match… for it was a low scoring match in which theWarriors were restricted to a humble 128 by the simply marvelous spin attack of the Chennai’ans’. DavyJacobs continued to impress with his blitzkrieg innings of 34 with Ravichandran Ashwin, a promisingyoung bowler finishing as the Golden Wicket Taker of the tournament. The Superkings started with amagnificent and formidable 103 opening stand between Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay who won theGolden Bat of the tournament beating Davy Jacobs in the hunt. There was little cricket left after that…and our flamboyant skipper took good care to finish off the game with a crackling boundary with an overto spare.

A really emotional moment for all CSK supporters like… in both a elated and a sad way.. goodbeing the fact that the Superkings triumphed for the second time in one year and the sad part was that,it was the last time we saw them playing as a unit…for, there’ll be fresh auctions later this year :’(.Anyway, its time to rejoice… its time to celebrate this typical South Indian ‘tadka’ from the Chennai guys.So,… for the last time.. come on guys.. with me, shout, “CHENNAI SUPERKINGS KE WHISTLE PODU !!”.