Previewing the Champions League T20: Victorian Bushrangers
The second edition of the Champions League T20 beginning September 10 will see ten of the finest cricket clubs from around the globe fight it out for the ultimate prize. The Victorian Bushrangers is one of the sides from Australia featuring in the tournament.
How they got there:
Victorian Bushrangers are arguably one of the most consistent teams in T20 club cricket, and that can be seen from their record in the KFC Big Bash T20 tournament. In the five editions of the tournaments that have been played so far, the Victorian side has won four of the tournaments and become runners-up in one edition. They also qualified for the previous year’s Champions League T20 played in India.
In the last season of the KFC Big Bash T20, Victoria was one of the six teams featuring in the tournament. They won the first couple of matches, before losing two in succession to go into their final league game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tasmania-c854 in a must-win scenario. They faced a daunting target of 161 in that game, but overcame the score in less than 17 overs for the loss of one wicket to end the group stage at the third position.
The top team in the league directly enters the final of the tournament, whereas the second and third-placed sides face each other in the semi-final or the preliminary final to decide which team gets to the final.
In the preliminary final, Victoria fielded first again, and were set a target of 150. This time, David Hussey smashed a 60 to guide the team to an easy win again, thus booking themselves a ticket to the CLT20. They ended up with a win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Australia-c844 in the finals of the tournament to clinch their fourth title.
Strengths:
Victoria has one of the strongest teams in the Australian circuit and that has to do with the presence of many experienced Australian and nearly-Australian players. In Cameron White, they have the Australian T20 vice-captain leading the side, and have the presence of the likes of David Hussey, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Andrew-McDonald-c1042 and Dirk Nannes, all of whom have played in international cricket.
Weaknesses:
As the South African pitches do not encourage too much spin, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Victoria-c859 may miss a genuinely good spinner in the tournament.
Players to watch out for:
White’s dazzling stroke-play should be the one to look out for, apart from the all-round capabilities of Hussey. However, the one player to watch out for will be Nannes, who has the ability to bowl his four overs without conceding too many runs and also picking up crucial wickets at the start and the end of the innings. McDonald may be bowled more in South African conditions, where the ball will zip around more than in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
Victoria’s fixtures:
Victoria will play the Warriors on September 13, Central District on September 15, Chennai on September 18, Wayamba on September 20.
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