Williamson ton crushes Cobras
Kane Williamson showed off his increasing proficiency in the format with a maiden T20 century as Cobras were overwhelmed in a rain-hit game
Kane Williamson showed off his increasing proficiency in the format with a maiden T20 century as Cobras were overwhelmed in a rain-hit game
Scorer: Sanjay Murari | Commentator: Karthik Krishnaswamy
11.25pm And that is that, all you cricket fans of the universe. This match is over, forever, and it's never coming back. But there's still a long way to go in this tournament, and make sure you tune into our ball-by-ball coverage of all the matches. Until then, it's ta ta from me and Sanjay.
11.20pm Presentation time. Justin Ontong: "Fantastic opening stand, and a fantastic innings by Kane, put us on the back foot right from the start. It didn't help that we didn't take the half chances. We just need to go back to the drawing board and come back strongly next game."
Daniel Flynn: "Bit of luck with the weather, we just managed to get the overs in, but fantastic innings from Kane. It was great to watch. They [openers] did it in the last game as well, and long may it continue. We tried to be calculated, and we have been fortunate in the last few games that it's gone our way."
Kane Williamson is the man of the match. "It's nice to contribute like that today," he says, modestly. "We had a bit of luck at the start with balls falling into gaps, and it was great batting with Anton. I suppose it has to be [my standout T20 innings] and it was nice to bat through. Always trying to work on my shots and hit the balls into the gaps and adapting to different conditions. It's great to have four wins in a row and play at the same ground and be reasonably familiar with it."
11.15pm The players are lining up in a narrow corridor under the stands to shake hands. It's still raining pretty heavily here, and I assume they'll do the presentation indoors, whenever that is.
Ankur: "No doubt about the game at hand, but I remain largely unconvinced by use of DL in T20 encounters. Would it have predicted the last 2 games, KKR 51/5 or KXI 51/4 would easily win the game?" It isn't a predictive tool, Ankur. All it does is reflect the match situation at the time of the stoppage.
11.10pm And that is that. The match has been called off, and Northern Knights have won by 33 runs (D/L method). Thanks for alerting me, everyone!
The result was never in doubt, even if they had managed to get the players back on the field. Knights have outplayed Cobras today. It definitely looked like one team had played three matches almost back-to-back at this stadium and the other was both rusty and unused to the conditions. Williamson was unstoppable, Devcich and Watling did their bit, and a lot of the Cobras bowling was very ordinary.
11.00pm I know you won't want to hear this, but we are as clueless as you are about the situation at the ground at the moment. We'll update you as soon as we have any information. And feel free to point me to any news you may chance upon on Twitter or suchlike.
SachIsLife: "Also, I have been wanting to ask this. How does Ish Sodhi, with a FC bowling average of 47 get to play for NZ? What am i missing?"
Well, having watched him bowl during the Test series in West Indies, Sodhi is one of those legspinners who bowls quite a few good, threatening-looking deliveries but isn't very consistent with his direction. He's still only 21, and New Zealand look at him as a long-term prospect. He definitely looks promising to me, but yeah, it isn't ideal for a legspinner to be learning his craft at the highest level. Given the depth (or lack of depth) of spin talent in New Zealand, this is the best they can do. I hope he can fulfil his potential.
10.45pm The official CLT20 account has tweeted this (more than ten minutes ago, actually): "The players are off the field and the groundsmen are at work...This rain has turned heavy with a stroke of lightning in the sky."
Northern Knights, meanwhile, have retweeted someone named Anand Subramaniam, who is at the ground: "The heavens have well and truly opened up...One section of the crowd going bonkers with their dance moves."
Riad: "All went wrong to COB as they have already seen rain is coming. Why they are not aware of D/L ? The way Robin and Amla batted , it looks like they are not chasing, just to build the innings after 1st wicket. very poor thinking."
You're forgetting that batsmen can only play as well as the bowlers allow them to. That's true even in T20, if to a smaller extent. Boult and Southee were swinging it around and bowling pretty well, so it's been difficult for the Cobras batsmen.
stranger: "How many overs should be completed before the match can be decided on Duckworth Lewis?" Five overs, so we already have a completed game if rain washes this out.
Kashif Naseer: "I was about to say that it seems like scott kuggeleijn is the only weekness in knights bowling line up but then he immediately took Amla's wicket :D My comment surely was lucky for him :)" Are you sure you were going to say that?
10.25pm and on come the covers. The groundstaff are positively rushing in. The rain's become steadily heavier over the last four or five balls. The D/L par score at this point is 84, and Cobras are nowhere near it. Wait. The electronic scoreboard is saying the D/L par score is 77. Not sure which figure is correct.
Sodhi comes on to bowl some legspin
Just as I said that, it's gotten a little heavier
There's a steady drizzle, but it's very mild. Just a spray
The Plays of the day from the Champions League match between Cobras and Northern Knights
Kane Williamson showed off his increasing proficiency in the format with a maiden T20 century as Cobras were overwhelmed in a rain-hit game