Twenty 20 Blog

If there was ever a Twenty20 final that could have matched the excitement of the last game of the 2007 edition of ICC World Twenty20, it had to be the finals of the previous season’s Twenty20 Cup in England. The game went right down to the proverbial wire, and in unfortunate circumstances, Justin Kemp failed to garner the requisite Miandadesque strength to smash the ball out of the park to see his team through; instead ending vanquished by a meagre margin of three runs.

Previous season’s shenanigans

Not too many knew what lay in store for them ahead, especially when the Middlesex skipper Ed Joyce won the toss and elected to bat first in a pressure game at the Rose Bowl.

Yasir Arafat – who would go on to top the bowling charts for most wickets – had an early success in the form of B. Godleman, but Joyce and Tyron Henderson exhibited enough fire-power to go after the bowling and take the score to 47 by the time the fielding restrictions were lifted. Unfortunately, Joyce nicked one to the ‘keeper, and the score read 47/2 at that stage.

Any respite that the wicket would have got them was quickly forgotten by Kent, as Owais Shah joined Henderson and kept taking the desired runs off the bowlers to get to 83 in the 11th over before being separated. Henderson, who was later bought by the Rajasthan Royals for a whopping sum of $6 followed by a barrage of zeros, fell to Ryan McLaren. Shah, however, remained unflustered, and in fact, took to the bowling like a duck to water.

In less than six overs, he had managed to almost double the Middlesex score to 162, adding a whopping 79 runs in 35 deliveries with Eoin Morgan! The last 21 deliveries after Shah’s departure saw only 25 runs being scored, but that was more attributable to the manner in which Shah batted than how the rest of them did!

Kent’s reply made for a Hollywood-thriller, as the in-form Robert Key went after the Middlesex bowling like a hot knife goes lovingly through butter. As is Key’s wont, not too many shots were played in anger, and there was only one six in his 30-ball 52; as the score raced to 89 in only the tenth over. However, Murali Kartik’s amazing run of bowling for his county continued as he snapped up the skipper’s wicket, while J.Denly and the so-called pinch-hitter in Arafat followed soon after to leave them tottering a little at 96/3 in the 11th over.

The run-rate was exactly what was needed, it was the problem of lost momentum. In the end, Darren Stevens did get together with Kemp to get the team closer, but with 22 needed off 11, he had to swing. Dirk Nannes got the better of him, and in the end, 22 in ten deliveries proved to be a trifle too much for the Kent team!

…and the purported riches, that never came!

The incentive for winning the trophy wasn’t supposed to be restricted to the silverware only, it had purported to bring in other benefits as well. For starters, both Middlesex and Kent had qualified for, what was supposed to be played at that point, as the Champions League of cricket, consisting of a couple of teams each from India, Australia, South Africa, apart from the duo.

Secondly, Middlesex also played in, the now disgraced Stanford Super series, against three other teams and stood a chance to earn the mega-bucks too.

Unfortunately, for Kent, they had fielded a couple of players who were associated with the Indian Cricket League – a league which is not recognised by the BCCI – ensuring that Kent was banned from featuring in the Champions League. The November attacks in Mumbai put paid to any chances of the Champions League being held as scheduled, and Middlesex ended up with nothing but the trophy to show for it, in the end!

The future is bright, now to some cricket!

This time around again, the winner of the T20 cup will definitely qualify for the Champions League, however, it remains to be seen whether the losing finalist would also do the same. Secondly, with the BCCI and PCB offering amnesty to those featuring in the ICL, if they nullified their contracts, most of the cricketers will now, no longer be a part of the rebel-league, and that could mean that the basic bone of contention that the BCCI and ECB had, could soon be resolved!

For the uninitiated, the 18 counties will be divided into three divisions, based on the geography; with the top two from every division, along with the two best third placed sides also going through to the quarter-finals. Last time around, Yorkshire was embroiled in a controversy over fielding an ineligible player in a game, that saw them lose two points; and in turn a spot in the knock-out stage. The Glamorgan Dragons benefitted and got through the quarter-finals, but were routed by the Durham.

The action commences from the 25th of May!

By Suneer Chowdhary - Twenty20Blog.co.uk