Kolkata Knight Riders V Auckland Aces Champions League T20 Preview And Live Timings

Kolkata Knight Riders will be on display in the second game of the Champions League T20 2011 qualifiers when they take on the Auckland Aces.

Venue: Uppal, Hyderabad

Date: September 19, 2011

Time: 2000 hours local time, 1430 hours GMT onwards

The Kolkata Knight Riders v Auckland Aces Champions League T20, 2011 match will be shown live on Star Cricket in India.

How the teams got here/Previous Results:

Auckland were clearly the team of the tournament in the HRV Cup 2011, New Zealand’s premier T20 tournament, when they won almost everything that came their way. They seemed to have held their nerves well at the start of the tournament, with some close wins to their name but went on to carve out easy victories towards the end of the league stage of the tournament. In the final, the Aces scored 158 thanks to their Hampshire import, Jimmy Adams’ 62 and kept Central Stags down to four short of the target to march into the Champions League T20.

Kolkata finished fourth in the previous edition of the IPL, after they lost to the Mumbai Indians in the playoffs. Their road to the Champions League was revived when the CLT20 governing council decided on having a qualifier that included a fourth team from the IPL – a decision that was to do with the need to have more Indian teams in the tournament and hence, more eyeballs and revenue!

Key Players:

Adams’ experience in playing pivotal roles for both, Hampshire and Auckland, in the T20 format of the game makes him one of the keys to watch out for the side in this vital qualifier against the home team.

For Kolkata, Jacques Kallis, now that he is the captain for the opening couple of games will be the player to watch out for. Batting, bowling and now captaincy – things could have got tight for anyone but Kallis is as seasoned and mentally tough as they come!

And they will miss...

The Aces, who have made it through to the CLT20 for the first time ever, will miss a frontline, experienced spinner in their ranks – especially in conditions that necessitate such a cog in the wheel. A lot will be expected out of Bruce Martin.

Captain and their most important batsman, Gautam Gambhir will be missed. He is out with a concussion-related injury and will not be a part of the side for the qualifiers but will hope to regain his fitness if the side makes it through to the main draw.

Prediction:

Not too much doubt that Kolkata Knight Riders will be favourites to beat Auckland. The issue for a side which is so used to playing on tracks that invariably has green on it. The adjustment from green to brown will be a huge issue and the Knight Riders should sleepwalk through this – with the usual conditions applying for the format!

For the rest of the schedule, format and timings for the Champions League T20, 2011, click here.