da marjack bet： ESPNcricinfo looks back on the Champion League T20’s best, worst and weirdest

da leao： Nikita Bastian10-Oct-2011Spell of the tournament
Lasith Malinga, 4 for 20, Mumbai Indians v Somerset, 2nd semi-final
Lasith Malinga is one of the best limited-overs bowlers in the world, and against Somerset in the CLT20 semi-final, he showed why. Four full balls, four batsmen’s stumps destroyed. In his opening spell, he snagged Somerset’s big two – Peter Trego with an outswinging yorker and Roelof van der Merwe with a slow, low full toss. He returned with a seven-run 18th over at a stage when Somerset needed 29 of 18, with Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler well set and coming off a 16-run Abu Nechim over. James Franklin delivered in the penultimate over, and Malinga sealed the win in the last, taking out an improvising Nick Compton with a straight full delivery and Murali Kartik next ball with a yorker on middle stump. Game over. And yes, we won’t forget Malinga also won Mumbai their opening game against Chennai Super Kings with his batting and got vital late runs in the final.Innings of the tournament
David Warner, 135 not out off 69 balls, Chennai Super Kings v New South Wales
A do-or-die match against the defending champions, at their home ground. A fitting stage to produce your best ever Twenty20 innings, you think? David Warner certainly did, in a match that pitted CSK against New South Wales with a place in the semis on offer. The left-handed Warner floored the hosts with a mix of straight- and switch-hitting in a knock that included eight sixes – one of his monster straight hits cleared the stadium, while he pulled another right-handed six over what normally would have been extra cover. His unbeaten 135 – the highest individual score in CLT20 history – came at a strike-rate of almost 200 at a venue where teams had previously struggled to collectively get past 120, courtesy the sluggish conditions. Warner carried NSW and his form into the semi-final, where he clobbered a century against RCB, albeit on a more batting-friendly Bangalore pitch.Shot of the tournament
Arun Karthik’s last-ball six, Royal Challengers Bangalore v South Australia
The plot: RCB need six off the final ball against South Australia to make the knockouts. The actor: Arun Karthik, one of the many Indians playing support roles to their more fancied international team-mates. The climax: Karthik, facing only his second ball of the game, smashes Daniel Christian into the stands beyond midwicket … CLT20 2011’s Miandad-moment in the bag.Patrick Cummins: A player to watch•Associated PressMystery of the tournament
Sunil Narine, Trinidad & Tobago’s offspinner
Sunil Narine picked up 10 wickets at 10.50 apiece in the competition and recorded the best economy rate (10 overs minimum): 4.37. He had most batsmen baffled with what he terms the ‘knuckle ball’. That was best demonstrated in T&T’s match against CSK. Narine claimed 3 for 8 in his four overs, bowling M Vijay and inducing Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni to return catches. His deceptions are so subtle – abstruse grip, lightning quick release – that even television’s slow-motion replays could not fully unravel the mystery. Another project for all those professional video analysts, then?Recovery of the tournament
Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai Indians’ batsman
Allrounder Suryakumar Yadav was one of MI’s several walking wounded. He was the eighth local player to be cut from the squad due to injury, prompting the CLT20 officials to tweak the playing rules and allow MI to field five foreign players. Mid-way through the tournament Yadav was spotted playing in an Under-22 tournament in Mumbai, in which he scored 191. Injury concerns seemingly addressed then, he returned to the MI squad, the rules were reverted and he promptly went on to compile a handy cameo in the semi-final against Somerset.Flop of the tournament
Andrew Symonds, Mumbai Indians’ batsman
Prior to the tournament, Andrew Symonds had 2115 runs in 89 Twenty20s at a strike-rate of 148.73 – the highest aggregate in a MI side that was without Rohit Sharma. A lot was expected from him, especially in Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit’s absence. He managed only 26 runs in four matches at less than a run-a-ball. Dirk Nannes slotted in a close second, his poor show mitigated slightly by a tidy spell in the final. He was expected to be RCB’s pace spearhead in Zaheer Khan’s absence, but picked up only two wickets in six games and had an average of over 200.00 at one stage.New face of the tournament
Patrick Cummins, New South Wales’ fast bowler
He’s the youngest player to be awarded a central contract by Cricket Australia since the current system was introduced in 1998, and no wonder: 18-year-old Patrick Cummins managed to hit speeds of 150 kph even on the dead Chepauk pitch. Cummins claimed seven wickets in all, at an average of 19.42. Virat Kohli, one of the tournament’s form batsmen, paid him rich tribute after the RCB-NSW semi-final, saying he was wary of Cummins and blocked out his final four balls when the match was at a tricky stage as he considered him NSW’s strike bowler. Time now to see what Cummins can do against South Africa on international debut.Things couldn’t have got lower than the NSW-T&T match for Ravi Rampaul•AFPQuip of the tournament
“When I saw that boundary in Bangalore I thought of becoming a batsman.”
Closely followed by …”At that point of the game, we normally have a guy called Pollard coming in for us, but unfortunately he was playing for the other team.”
Meltdown of the tournament
Ravi Rampaul, 1 for 42, New South Wales v Trinidad & Tobago
Ravi Rampaul has been one of the leading bowlers in the CLT20, topping the wicket-takers’ table with 12 wickets at 12.50 apiece and conceding only 6.25 runs an over. Against NSW though, it all went wrong. Chasing 140 NSW were 123 for 8 at the end of the 19th over. With 16 to defend, Rampaul came on and attempted to bowl his typical angling-across deliveries from round the stumps. He strayed in line though, only to be flicked by Moises Henriques for consecutive fours. Rampaul lost his nerve and couldn’t recover. NSW tied the game and Henriques demolished Rampaul once more in the Super Over that followed, smacking him for four boundaries to secure the win.Yo-yo of the tournament
Shaun Tait, South Australia’s fast bowlerFollowing his dismantling by Warriors (he went at 13.25 in his four overs) in Hyderabad, Shaun Tait was dropped for South Australia’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders. South Australia’s next match was washed-out. In their final game, against RCB at home, Tait came storming back with a five-for – the only one in the tournament – that included the wickets of the rampaging Kohli and Tillakaratne Dilshan.Folly of the tournament
Lendl Simmons’s run out, Mumbai Indians v Trinidad & Tobago
The term ‘lazy cricket’ was redefined by Lendl Simmons in T&T’s match against MI. At 40 for 1 in the fifth over, T&T were off to a solid start when Darren Bravo and Simmons attempted to run two. Simmons hit towards deep backward square, ran the first, jogged the second and didn’t even attempt to ground his bat while the bails were whipped off. Replays showed his foot was squarely on the line. He walked off and T&T imploded for 98.Curse of the tournament
Practice makes perfect? South African wicketkeepers at the CLT20 won’t agree. MI’s Davy Jacobs (hip injury), RCB’s AB de Villiers (fractured finger) and Warriors’ Mark Boucher (strained hamstring), all picked up their injuries during seemingly harmless practice sessions.