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Nokia CL T20

The domestic Twenty20 champions will have a lot at stake during the ACLT20.

By Abhideep Das

The team, which is a combine of players from Eastern Province and Border, was the last of the six franchisee based teams in the Rainbow nation to win a national tournament.

The team is placed in Group A along with Central Stags, Chennai Super Kings, Victoria Bushrangers and Wayamba XI. There will be no shortage of support for the Warriors since they play all the group matches at St.Georges Park in Port Elizabeth, their domestic home ground.

Under the experienced leadership of David Jacobs, 2009-10 turned out to be an exceptional season for Warriors. They not only clinched the T20 competition but before that they also emerged triumphant in the national 40-overs tournament. Outside the three teams from India, Warriors are the only team in Champions League to have so many international players in their ranks.

However, with Jacques Kallis opting to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore, the balance of the squad took a slight hit. Nonetheless a line-up which boasts the likes of Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Johan Botha, Makhya Ntini and Juan Theron means the Warriors will be more than a handful in the September 10-26 event.

Besides the above mentioned players, Colin Ingram is a name that one must keep an eye on. Touted as one of the most promising batsmen in South Africa, he did enough during the victorious T20 campaign of Warriors to live up to that tag. With 283 runs from 8 games at a strike rate of nearly 150, the 25-year-old was the highest run scorer for the champions. Due to this stupendous show, Ingram was rightly awarded the Pro 20 cricketer of the year. In an ominous sign for all opponents in the Champions League, ‘Bozie’ as he is called by his teammates, has continued his good form and scored heavily for South Africa A during the Emerging Players tournament in Australia.

The Warriors have a world-class bowling attack. Makhaya Ntini, who is out of favour with national selectors at the moment, will have one last chance to prove his credentials on the big stage before the 2011 World Cup. With 12 wickets, Ntini was the highest wicket taker during the team’s triumphant T20 campaign in March this year.

An interesting face-off can be expected when Warriors clash with Chennai Super Kings on September 22. Ntini has gone on record saying that he was quite hurt by the Indian franchisee ignoring him for selection during Chennai’s victorious IPL campaign. MS Dhoni and Co. can definitely expect some fireworks during this game.

Juan ‘Rusty’ Theron will look to further enhance his reputation as one of the leading T20 bowlers in the world. With 11 scalps in the Pro 20 series, he was the second highest wicket taker for Warriors behind Ntini. Theron, who turned up for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2010, can definitely expect some assistance from the St.George’s track as September is the early part of cricket season in South Africa, when pitches are fresh and seamer-friendly.

Left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell misses out as he is yet to recover from a groin injury. Apart from the seamers, the Warriors also have 2 effective spinners in Johan Botha and Nicky Boje.

Newly appointed Proteas T20 skipper Botha would be looking at this tournament as an ideal preparation for the tougher contests ahead which includes a series against India at home later this year. On the other hand, after severing ties with the now defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL), this will be Boje’s first appearance in top-flight international cricket action.

Apart from all the international stars, utility players like skipper and wicketkeeper David Jacobs add a lot of value to the side. Jacobs, in fact was the second highest run getter for Warriors after Ingram during the team’s T20 campaign in March.

Thus, the Warriors are ready for battle and will fight till their last breath to ensure that the glittering Champions League trophy remains in South Africa.

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