The SKYCITY Northern Knights painted the qualifying section of Champions League Twenty20 pink, and will be looking to do the same in the main draw starting against the Cape Cobras from South Africa tonight, before taking on Australia's Hobart Hurricanes, India's King's XI Punjab and the Barbados Tridents, winners of the Caribbean Premier League.
After a few nerves in the first innings v Southern Express, the Knights have been in hot form. Kane Williamson (twice), Daniel Flynn and BJ Watling have all hit 50s, while Tim Southee and Trent Boult have made the most of the favourable swing bowling conditions.
While spinners will always play a part in the subcontinent, the Knights' pace bowling attack has been in hot form and could be a point of difference with the other teams. Ish Sodhi has been effective, conceding just ten runs from his two overs in the shortened match v Southern Express was a fine effort, while there have been contributions from the other bowlers, typified by Scott Styris's three wickets v Mumbai in a man of the match performance.
Williamson's form has been the bedrock of the batting - despite his initial reluctance about the shortest form ("Twenty20 is definitely in my top three formats," he was quoted as saying at the World T20), he is looking increasingly at home. He has the ability to go over the top, but the genuine cricket shots have impressed most, frequently piercing gaps and running the ball to the fence like a pool ball. Daniel Flynn has shown what he can do with a half-century against Lahore and there is plenty of power lower in the order waiting to get their chance.
"We've had three good, hard quality games here in Raipur, it's definitely an advantage for us to stay here," said opening bat Anton Devcich, who struck a quick-fire 39 v the Mumbai Indians. "The conditions are pretty different to what we have back home, so going into the next phase of the competition knowing what to expect can only benefit us in the next games. Focusing on what we're good and what we do well will help us at the end of the day, as we've shown in the last three days if we do that, we can beat anybody."
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The Champions League Twenty20 site has plenty of highlights for your viewing pleasure, including Kane Williamson's 50 v Mumbai Indians, Tim Southee and Daryl Mitchell's outstanding relay catch and the fall of wickets v Lahore Lions featuring some outstanding swing bowling form Southee and Boult.
