Spirited New Zealand side Northern Knights, who upstaged a star-studded Mumbai Indians in the qualifiers, will come face to face with one of the favourites to lift the title, South Africa’s Cape Cobras, in their opening Group B tie of the Champions league T20 here on Friday.
Cape Cobras, who were last seen in ClT20 back in 2009 when they reached the semifinals, are one of the strongest sides in the tournament but have been dealt a massive injury blow just at the start of the event.Their top batsman J P Duminy has been ruled out due to injury and that would cause a huge vacuum in the side given that he was among the side’s few players who have the experience of playing in India.
Northern Knights, on the other hand, are buoyant after finishing their qualifying engagements unbeaten. The star of their campaign was Kane Williamson and the young batsman’s role would become even more crucial in the main tournament.
For Cobras, the challenge would be to adapt to the conditions. “It is about how we deal with the pressure and how we gel as a team. Many members of the team have played a lot of cricket, but not necessarily the T20 format,” captain Justin Ontong has stated.
Even without Duminy, Cobras have a decent line-up boasting of the experienced Hashim Amla, Ontong himself and Robin Peterson. Pacers Vernon Philander and Rory Kleinveldt would be spearheading the bowling attack. For the Knights, Williamson aside, a lot would also be expected of veteran all-rounder Scott Styris, B J Watling and skipper David Flynn. Pacers Trent Boult and Tim Southee would be their bowling mainstays.
Meanwhile, Cobras skipper Ontong believes 160-170 runs will be a good target to defend. “Watching some of the games here I was quite impressed with some of the wickets. Especially with the new ball the pace bowlers are doing good. I think the wicket has been generally very good...The track is as per South African liking,” Ontong added.
Responding to a query on facing off a New Zealand side, which has been unbeaten in the qualifying round, Ontong said, “Probably they know the conditions very well and I think they know how to go about their plans. But we just got to make sure that we go on top of the game.”