The Perth Scorchers will open their third CLT20 campaign on Saturday at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh against Dolphins from South Africa, who will be making their bow at the tournament.
It will not take a great deal for the Scorchers to improve on their previous trips to the tournament, after previous qualification has been followed by disastrous performances.
In 2012 they qualified as runner up in the Big Bash after being beaten by the Sydney Sixers in the Australian domestic T20 final. However, at the CLT20 that was held in South Africa that year, they performed poorly and won only one game, failing to get out of the group stage. They were also hit with self inflicted controversy, when the Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell were dropped from the final match.
Their omission was on disciplinary grounds, after the pair were found guilty of excessively celebrating Mitchell’s 21st birthday during the tournament.
They once again qualified for the CLT20 in 2013, after once more finishing as runner up in the Big Bash, this time to Brisbane Heat. Unfortunately, they were hit by a lack of player availability, and were further depleted by injuries. They lost all three games that they played, and finished bottom of their group.
The Dolphins qualified for their first ever Champions League by winning the Ram Slam T20 Challenge in South Africa, beating the Cape Cobras in the final.
Lacking the marquee names of South African cricket, the Dolphins will rely, much as they did during the domestic campaign, on organisation and a team ethic, that requires everyone to make a contribution, rather than relying on a few star names to set the tempo of the team’s performances.
The Warriors and the Lions are the only South African teams to have made a CLT20 final, and both were heavily beaten when they did so. In a group with Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings, as well as Saturday’s opponents, Dolphins will do well to escape their group, let alone progress to the Grand Final.