CLT20 2014: The Cricbuzz XI

Robin Uthappa (WK)

Robin Venu Uthappa carried his form from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and continued to give some great starts to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Though the right-handed batsman did not get an impressively high number of fifties, he was so sublime in his stroke-play and often set up a nice base for the rest of his team-mates to carry on. The 28-year-old brought up his best in KKR's last league match, against Sunfoil Dolphins, smashing the bowlers to all corners, en-route to a 55-ball 85. In the process, he was also involved in a record partnership (153) with Manish Pandey, which entered the history books as the highest stand ever for any wicket in Champions League T20(CLT20). Uthappa's 28 fours, is the most by a player in the 2014 CLT20.

The right-handed opening batsman proved his reputation, of being a fluent stroke-maker, right yet again and justified that the T20 format is not just all about muscles and power-hitting. Kane WIlliamson hit the ground running and began the CLT20 campaign with a bright fifty against Sri Lanka's Southern Express. The 24-year-old played a crucial role at the top and was key to Northern Districts (NK) being tagged as a team to watch out for, during the qualifiers stages of the tournament. Another fifty against Mumbai Indians ensured that the defending champions were knocked out as he helped NK chase down the target of 133, with 16 balls to spare. On 19 September, 2014, Williamson went one step further and brought up the tournament's first hundred, with a sensational 49-ball 101 against Cape Cobras.

The left-handed batsman from Uttar Pradesh is arguably India's best number three batsman in the shortest format of the game. Suresh Raina, as has been the case with him throughout, gave Chennai Super Kings (CSK) the much needed impetus at the top, despite the openers failing to get the side off to solid starts. The 27-year-old set the stage on fire, smashing the Dolphins bowlers all over Bangalore, on his way to a scintillating 43-ball 90 that had 8 towering sixes. Raina, who has been with CSK since its inception, saved his best for the final. Taking on the KKR bowlers at will, he stamped his authority on them and became the first Indian to register a hundred in the history of CLT20. Using the inside-out loft, the lofted drive, the slog, the slog-sweep and much more, Raina hit a whopping 16 sixes, the most in the 2014 CLT20.

A muscular left-handed batsman from Barbados, Jonathan Lyndon Carter, on 26 September 2014, lit up the 2014 CLT20 with a sensational 68-ball 111 at Mohali against Cape Cobras and bailed his side of trouble to help them post a good total on the board, despite the loss of a couple of early wickets. The match then went into the Super Over but Barbados couldn't win, even though Carter had the strike for the last ball, with three runs needed to get past the line. Since then, Carter has made some valuable contributions in the middle-order, but lack of support from the rest of his team-mates meant, Barbados never really posted sizeable totals and went back home winless.

He might not have those big runs, but batting in the middle-order, the Pakistani all-rounder was key to Hobart Hurricanes' success in the tournament. Often doing the rescuing act, the 32-year-old never really had the freedom to play his shots when he first arrived at the crease. He used all his experience to get his eye in and then chose the right balls to play the gallery hits and upped the ante as the innings progressed. He played one such knock in the semi-final against KKR. Though other batsmen succumbed to the likes of Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav, Malik took his time and went berserk to register a fighting fifty. However, it went in vain as KKR did not have much to chase.

The Western Australian is in the form of his life. He was in awesome touch before he arrived in India for the CLT20 and he continued his good work here as well. Marsh began the tournament on a scorching note. When Perth Scorchers needed 12 runs off the last 2 balls against the Dolphins, Marsh hit a couple of massive sixes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Though he didn't do much in the next two matches, he was simply unstoppable in Scorchers' last league match against Lahore Lions, who were playing for a berth in the semi-finals. Marsh picked up a couple of early wickets, before coming back to haunt the Lions with the bat, despite carrying niggle. Walking in at 34/5 in the 8th over, chasing 125, Marsh played a stunning counter-attacking knock to scored a 38-ball 63, thereby taking down the Lions with the them.

He is a sure shot selection in any T20 side. The mystery spinner was once again the leading wicket-taker of a tournament and this time, he led the bowling charts for the 2014 CLT20 with 12 wickets to his name. The Trinidadian began the tournament on an excellent note, registering impressive figures of 4-0-9-1 against CSK. As he warmed up nicely, he made batsmen dance to his tunes and was quite easily in the wickets column every single he time he took the field. He picked up three wickets for just 9 runs against the Lions, while he consumed four of the Scorchers batsmen, when they played KKR at Hyderabad. However, he did have a smooth finish to the T20 event as news of him being reported for suspect bowling action emerged and eventually ruined KKR's chances in the final as he was banned from bowling, until he got his action approved.

Whenever the Lahore Lions needed to break a partnership, the ball was thrown Aizaz Cheema. The 35-year-old pacer bowled exceptionally well indeed. He used the swing at the start of the innings, while he took pace off the ball and got the yorkers right at the death to deceive the batsman. He began his CLT20 campaign against Mumbai Indians with an economical spell of 2/22, before bagging a couple of three-wicket hauls in his next two matches. Though his form dipped at the fag end of the tournament, Cheema proved enough at the start that he's a seasoned campaigner in this format.

It was a bit of a surprise that Perth Scorchers did not utilise all four overs of Joel-Paris every game. The 21-year-old left-arm pacer has assured at least one wicket in his first spell with the new ball, while he's also got the reputation to get it in the block-hole during the death overs. The fact that he bowled the batsman in the five of his seven dismissal speaks volumes of his accuracy, both with the new ball and old ball.