Group D (Delhi, Victoria, Wayamba)

[Sartaj]

May be Collingwood will get a chance in Vettori's absence

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

May be Collingwood will get a chance in Vettori's absence

Collingwwod is out of Champions League and Villiers too

 

[aussie1st]

McKay T20 form wasn't great so will be interesting seeing if Victoria take the punt on his recent form and hope he comes right or go with someone else.

 

[Sartaj]

Collingwwod is out of Champions League and Villiers too

No wonder they're begging McGrath to play for them.

 

[Amitpal_003]

This is going to be a very tough group. I think Delhi will be the favourites for this one with a batting lineup with the likes of Gambhir, Viru, Dilshan and Karthik also a handy bowling attack with the likes of Nehra, Nannes and Mishra. Hoping to go to one of the matches, probably the match between Victoria and Delhi.

 

[yashwanth kumar]

its again a tough call B/T Delhi daredevil's and Victoria Bushrangers 50/50 for both

 

[angryangy]

McKay T20 form wasn't great so will be interesting seeing if Victoria take the punt on his recent form and hope he comes right or go with someone else.

I don't think they need to use McKay. They've got the edge in pace with Siddle and Harwood alone, but they've brought young Pattinson along for a reason and with the shape of their lineup, they have license to use him. I think he could be one of a few big surprises in that squad. Even those 3 core batsmen could be surprising, because I don't think people realise how dangerous they are.

White, Hodge and David Hussey have as many runs in Twenty20 as Gambhir, Dilshan, Sehwag, Shah and Karthik. All three of them have better averages and only Sehwag has a strikerate that is comparable to the likes of White and Hussey. If you look at the number of 50s scored by both Delhi and Victoria's players, it's about the same even though on paper Delhi have a lot more big names.

Of course, you point out that they're still outnumbered, but is that actually as big a deal as it sounds? The shortest format has some intricacies. Consider what you think is the best possible Twenty20 innings and then ask yourself how many other batsmen would you need down the other end? T20 batting is often about a very small section of the order playing exceptionally well on the day. Even your number 6 might as well be a bowler who can hold a bat if your guys up the order are just that reliable.

But just as we know so much about those star batsmen, have seen a fair bit of Siddle and probably enough of Harwood or McDonald too, there are plenty of high risk players in there. The openers in particular; their best is incredibly good, but they have a habit of inconsistency. I was a little surprised they left out Chris Rogers. Wade is a superb talent with bat and gloves, but he comes into T20 very inexperienced. The spinners too, could be interesting. Will they be able to handle those Indian batsmen? More to the point, will they be able to put as much pressure on opponents as the likes of Mishra or Mendis could do to the Vics? In any case, it will be riveting to see the great variety of spin bowling on offer.

On that note, there is some real potency in the bowling of Wayumba. Maharoof is a familiar name and even David Lloyd knows who Ajantha Mendis is, but wait, there's more! Udana showed us his slippery slower ball in June for the World T20 and we saw some genuine class from Herath in Test cricket later on. However, the batting doesn't rest on too much. Jayawardena may be a star, but T20 isn't where he plays his best. They have the sort of team build that really needs the bowlers to carry the game and inflict a low total.

This group is certainly worth its low betting returns, but the value here is all in the viewing.

 

[aussie1st]

I don't see Pattinson being used unless injury hits or Victoria are going that poorly.
Hastings will go in as 3rd seamer unless they want to go in with 2 spinners although Hodge, Hussey and White more than cover the spin department anyway.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

victoria - solid but samey
delhi - great top order, good lead bowlers, pretty average middle order/all-rounders
wayamba - great bowling with variety, crap batting.

 

[aussie1st]

Victoria had a good hit out against us, McGain and McKay getting 4 wickets and Hastings 3. The match was extended after NSW got bowled out for under 100 in 14 overs.

 

[smssia0112]

McKay T20 form wasn't great so will be interesting seeing if Victoria take the punt on his recent form and hope he comes right or go with someone else.

He's a terrible limited overs bowler, way too expensive. Rather than ask him to fix it and risk his ability in the longer form of the game, I'd rather we just leave him as an FC specialist. Harwood and Siddle will take the new ball, and they are a formidable duo. With McDonald offering his tidy medium pacers, McGain with the spin and White, Hodge and Hussey all able to do their part time spin, we don't necessarily need Clint.

My team would be:
1. Quiney
2. Hodge
3. White
4. Hussey
5. McDonald
6. Blizzard
7. Wade
8. Harwood
9. McGain
10. Siddle
11. Holland

Going through that, Wright is such a massive loss. Put Blizzard down the order to do some pinch hitting, Hodge and Quiney are more reliable openers and Hodge seems to prefer opening in Twenty20s to the middle order. It is a good team, but there's no doubt the bowling lineup looks a lot better with Nannes and Wright in. Holland is more economical, so unless it's a paceman's pitch play him ahead of McKay.

 

[aussie1st]

McKay has been improving quite a bit since the start of last season. He took a 4 fer in his last T20 game against Pakistan A and his FRC performances were improving as the season went on.