The first game of the main draw of the Champions League T20 will be a Group B encounter between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Warriors from South Africa.
Venue: M Chinnaswamy, Bangalore
Date: September 23, 2011
Time: 2000 hours local time, 1430 hours GMT onwards
The Royal Challengers Bangalore v Warriors Champions League T20, 2011 match will be shown live on Star Cricket in India.
Previous Results:
Interestingly, both, the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Warriors came second in their respective T20 tournaments back home. While Bangalore went down to the defending CLT20 champions Chennai Super Kings in the final of the IPL 2011, Warriors were beaten by the Cape Cobras in a well-fought encounter in the Standard Bank T20 this year.
Key Players:
Without doubt if there is the one player who would be looked out for, it is Chris Gayle for the Royal Challengers. Gayle was the difference between the finals berth for Bangalore and getting knocked out in the first round of the tournament. Such had been his effect on the tournament that he ended with a couple of centuries and the Orange Cap despite starting out five games later than all the rest.
The Warriors were propped by the presence of Jon Trevor Smuts, whose batting went a long way in getting them to the final. He is not too well known in international circles but this could just be the tournament that gives him the pass to the rest of the world and...the IPL!
And they will miss...
Bangalore will miss the injured Zaheer Khan in the tournament, which will make them utilise the services of the lesser known pace bowlers. The difference in the experience between Zaheer and the ones in the squad is immense and could be a telling factor.
The Warriors will be without Davy Jacobs, their opener who had also played in the previous edition of the CLT20. This time, he is plying his trade for the Mumbai Indians.
Prediction:
Royal Challengers Bangalore will go into the game as favourites but as was evident in that final of the IPL, once Gayle gets out early, the rest of the batting can be put under pressure. Warriors will look to cramp Gayle and take it from there...
For the rest of the schedule, format and timings for the Champions League T20, 2011, click here.
