The Champions League T20 2009 kicked off to a great start in front of a packed house in Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium.It was a match full of fireworks and challengers had to bow to brilliance of one mighty cobra – Jean Paul Duminy. The results so far have been disappointing for the IPL franchisees but they still have a chance to turn things around – although they have made their chances of moving into Semifinals, a little bit tougher. The two Australian teams – Bushrangers and NSW blues and the SA team – Cope Cobras look really good. It would be a surprise if they didn't make it to the semifinals, although Bushrangers – a good team – haven't been tested in a tough match, as their match against daredevils – turned out to be a dud.
Daredevils and Deccan Chargers still have a chance to top their groups if the other results in their group go their way – well, at least technically. Royal Challengers will have to settle for second in their group – a big IF here, if they beat Volts. The IPL franchisee captains will have to get their bowling changes right, so far they have been very disappointing.
The good part of the CL T20 so far is impressive show put up by some of these overseas or unknown teams – well, from an Indian perspective. The first hundred of CL was already recorded in the fourth match – although Duminy could have got it in the first – which would have been a nice coincidence to have hundreds in the opening match in IPL and Champions League.
The one thing that was noticeable is the crowd response – the cricket crazy Indian public didn't seem to bother much about the non-IPL team matches – which was noticeable in Delhi and Hyderabad. Hopefully, they will embrace the best teams out there – even if they are not Indian, after all, it's the game and the format – that is the winner. Either way, Lalit Modi might already have plans to throw away a whole bunch of free tickets to the school kids or even people passing by.
Crunch matches to watch out for – Chargers vs T&T, Royal Challengers vs Otago.
