NSW hold edge over T and T in summit clash

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Hyderabad: The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 final can be termed as the Caribbean flair vs Aussie discipline when the flamboyant Trinidad and Tobago clash with the experienced New South Wales (Blues) in the summit clash here on Friday.

Despite losing to the T and T in the league stages, The New South Wales seems to have a slight edge in the final simply because of their experience and a terrific variety in their bowling, spearheaded by the never aging speedster Brett Lee.

Even though the fastest bowler on this earth gets to bowl just two overs with the new ball, he has shown that he has not lost any speed and can get the early strikes for his team.

Lee has used the short ball very effectively so far and has swung the ball appreciably well. He will be given the license to go after the flamboyant T and T top order and it should make for a fascinating experience to watch.

Add to that the young spinner Nathan Hauritz, who is gaining in confidence after every match and the two silent assassins Stuart Clark and Doug Bollinger, you have a match-winning recipe on hand.

Skipper Simon Katich heads the batting with all-rounder Moises Henriques, Ben Rohrer and Daniel Smith and the two most destructive openers Phillip Hughes and David Warner, who even got the better of the slow pitch in Delhi, with different batting styles.

The last time the two teams played each other, it was T and T off-spinner Sherwin Ganga and the left arm spinner Dave Mohammed who kept these two left-handed openers relatively quiet.

T and T, on the other hand is being led by an enterprising skipper in Daren Ganga, who is not afraid to experiment like he did in the semi-finals against Cape Cobras when he introduced his younger brother Sherwin in the very first over of the innings.

The Caribbean side also has explosive batsmen like Adrian Barath, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, William Perkins and canny medium-pacers in Bravo and Ravi Rampaul backed up by the two spinners Dave and Sherwin.

T and T looks almost a perfectly balanced side especially when you add in the sensible Daren Ganga, leading from the front and making sure that the adrenalin rush of his exuberant teammates never goes overboard.

All in all the match promises a fitting finale to a tournament which has witnessed some breath-taking performances so far.