Raipur: Premier New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson showed his prowess in shortest format as his smashing innings powered Northern Knights to a convincing seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka’s Southern Express in a rain-curtailed opening game of the Champions League T20 on Saturday.
With heavy downpour and soggy outfield reducing the match to 10-overs per side, Southern Express managed 92 for five in 10 overs which was easily surpassed by the Northern side with three balls to spare as Williamson led the charge with a 29-ball-52.
Known for his solid technique in Tests and ODIs, Williamson showed his class with some copybook hitting showing classical footwork against the spinners hitting seven fours and a six.
He started with a lofted straight four off leggie Sekkuge Prasanna but he literally pounced on off-breaks from Danushka Gunathilaka. He made room to hit the spinner over extra cover and also danced down the track to hit a six over mid-on. In between, he had swept him for good measure for another boundary.
Williamson was especially severe on Charith Jayampathi as he played some flowing cover drives and was also quick to swat anything that drifted down the leg-side. He completed his half-century off 28 balls with a lofted boundary off former Sri Lankan seamer Ferveez Maharoof before being played on off the very next delivery.
However by the time, Williamson was back in the confines of the dressing room the Northern Knights had the match in their pocket with only seven more to get off nine balls. Scott Styris and Daniel Harris safely saw the Kiwi outfit home.
While the main tournament starts on September 17 with perennial favourites Chennai Super Kings pitted against reigning IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, the start of qualifying rounds featured defending CLT20 champions Mumbai Indians taking on a very talented Lahore Lions team led by Mohammed Hafeez.
With the tournament being played in India (other venues are Mohali, Hyderabad and Bangalore), it is a foregone conclusion that the four home franchises have the best chance of winning the coveted title.
While CSK, under the able leadership of Dhoni, will be aiming to shrug off the disappointment of not reaching the IPL final with a solid show, Gautam Gambhir would like to quickly forget the England tour nightmare by aiming for a ‘double’ in the same calender - winning both IPL and CLT20.
Some of the sheen have been taken off the tournament with exciting players like Rohit Sharma missing out due to multiple injuries (finger fracture and shoulder niggle) while South African speedster Morne Morkel is also out with a shoulder injury. Both MI and KKR will feel the absence of these two players.
Southern Express of Sri Lanka will also feel done in as their regular skipper Lasith Malinga expectedly decided to don Mumbai colours while dashing opener Tillekaratne Dilshan pulled out due to family commitments.
