Champions League T20 Final
By Nishant Joshi

New South Wales vs Trinidad and Tobago



23rd October 15:30 GMT

This has been an exceptionally entertaining tournament thus far, and the final showcases the juggernauts of New South Wales (boo hiss) up against the loveable underdogs of Trinidad Tobago.

T&T caused the biggest 'gubbing' of the tournament just last week against New South Wales, on this same Hyderabad pitch. The pitch has been a fantastic batting surface and as such I think that we are in for a great spectacle. I have no qualms in recommending any cricket fan to crack open a beer and pull a Friday afternoon sickie in order to fully enjoy this spectacle.

The teams are certainly quite peculiar in their contrast. New South Wales are the typical Australian juggernauts, led by Simon Katich, who has even been able to drop down the order to 5 or lower, showing that although NSW look top-heavy in their batting line-up, they actually have exceptional strength in depth. Their bowling is led by Brett Lee, Doug Bollinger and Stuart Clark, with Nathan Hauritz as their main spin option. Moises Henriques has picked up plenty of surprise wickets this tournament, but after his chastening experience against Kieron Pollard in the league game just a week ago, I wonder how much confidence he will have if they square up once again.

I didn't give T&T a hope before the tournament, and I am still half-expecting them to fall flat on their faces at some point! However, the fact is that they have won all 5 of their games, in some style. Some matches have been particularly hairy for T&T, but it should be noted that they have always finished off matches in an exceptionally clinical fashion. Their batting has had plenty of Calypso flair without too many Calypso-Collapso moments, with the likes of Adrian Barath coming into the side and performing well above expectations. Crucially, all of their batsmen score at excellent strike rates, and they are all in excellent form. No single player stands out - their top batsmen William Perkins (129 runs @ 29.8) features only in 8th place in the overall leader board. T&T's card reads like a team of match-winners, and under the shrewd guidance of Daren Ganga, they come close to ticking every box in an ideal T20 team.

Their only obvious weakness is their bowling, which can blow rather hot and cold, with Ravi Rampaul a conspicuous liability up until their semi-final, where he bowled a tremendous final over just costing 2 runs. It remains to be seen whether that can be a turning point in his terrible tournament to date - 1 wicket in 5 matches, at an economy rate of 8.12 and average of 130 does not inspire confidence. Dwayne Bravo is often expensive but he managed to win T&T the match against Deccan Chargers, defending six off the final over.

Overall, NSW are favourites because they are efficient and you know what you're going to get from them. T&T are what I would call a 'clutch' side.
They will happily relish the tag of underdogs yet again and I feel that NSW pre-match backers will be in for a rough ride.

Although I fancy T&T to pull this one out of the fire, I feel that pre-match bets in Twenty20 matches are a matter of folly and impatience when trying to bet for a profit. When you consider that T&T have traded at odds of 6.0, 15.0, 60.0, 2.1 and 4.0 in their matches to date...suddenly quotes of 2.2 don't have much appeal. Even though I do feel that 2.2 is significant value, with a little patience, I am hopeful that we can also get a solid trade out of T&T if they trade at 4.0+ once again.

Therefore I would like to take interest in a side market for this match - William Hills have the total sixes bar at 10.5, which seems a tad short considering T&T's make-ups so far this 4-1, 4-4, 11-5, 12+1-7, 8-7. So I am tempted to dabble in their 'mug' 1.83 over 10.5 sixes bet, but I prefer the look of T&T to score most sixes @ evens (generally available). This bet would have copped in four out of five of their games so far, including a make-up of
11-5 against NSW at this ground just a week ago.

To coin Cool Runnings...

Feel de riddim;
Feel de rhyme;
Get on up -
IT'S TRINI TIME!

Good luck Trini Boys - the whole world will be cheering on the underdogs.

NJ's Bets:

Back T&T to score most sixes vs NSW - 3.5pts @ evens (Bluesq ,888sport)