The RCB CLT20 Poem

Here is a poem that I composed for RCB's CLT20 campaign:

It’s celebration!
In the Rainbow Nation!
It’s CLT20 time!
An experience prime.
The land of colours - myriad,
The world is watching us. Period.

Folk from everywhere - rural and urban,
Are flocking to Port Elizabeth and the lovely Durban.
Every T20 match is to us a carnival,
A fair, a fiesta, a festival.
10 teams stake claim,
In their quest for glory and fame.
We dance to Shakira’s Waka Waka,
Watching the cheerleading skills of Candice and Rebecca.
C’mon RCBians, bring in your vuvuzelas,
Ah! It might rain! So don’t forget your umbrellas.
While the task at hand is imperious,
Only the noble shall emerge victorious.
Just one team will lay its hands on the coveted Cup,
But the future of RCB is looking up!!!

Highveld Lions Exposed :)

The Royal Challengers Bangalore face the South African team Highveld Lions on the 21st of September 2010, in Johannesburg.
The Lions are basically from Johannesburg, and they have played a whole lot of T20 Internationals there at the Wanderers, and are acclimatized to the conditions.

The Lions have a fairly inexperienced team, which weighs the match heavily in favour of RCB, but this is cricket - anything can happen, but we sure hope that RCB can knock them over.

Lots of South Africans in the side, with most of them not having played for their country, like Etienne Gerber, Ugasen Govender, Jonathan Vandiar and Cliff Deacon. None of them have a great record, though.

Now, moving on to the experienced ones. The Lions have a great batsman in Stephen Cook, but he really hasn't played many T20s, and has a fairly okay strike rate of 118.
Neil McKenzie can be called as the "Rahul Dravid of the Highveld Lions". He has played 58 Tests and 64 ODIs for South Africa, with an excellent average of 37. He is finding his feet in T20s as well, and he will be the man that RCB will have to watch out for.
Alviro Petersen is the Captain of the Highveld Lions. A recent addition to the South African national team, Alviro has much to prove with his batting.
Vaughn van Jaarsveld is a relatively young and inexperienced player, who has had tremendous in the South African Pro20 competition. "Bowl straight and full" and he'll be back in the hut in no time.
Zander de Bruyn is a man of many talents. He is not slouch with the bat, and bowls medium pace too. RCB would do well to know his weakness of playing fast, short-pitched deliveries. (Hey, wait a minute, isn't that Yusuf Pathan's weakness too?)Yes it is, and Dale Steyn executed his plan perfectly in IPL-3 to get rid of Yusuf Pathan. I would recommend the same strategy to be employed in this case too.
Anyway, he has played under Ray Jennings, and Ray will be using his knowledge of Zander de Bruyn's weaknesses to our credit.
Jean Symes is a batsman who can bowl left-arm orthodox. He sometimes opens the innings for the Lions with Alviro Petersen.

Thami Tsolekile, the man from Cape Town, is the wicket-keeper of the Lions. Hailing from the same place as Jacques Kallis, Tsolekile has broken a lot of school cricket records set by Kallis. Though he played 3 Tests for South Africa, he never found a permanent place in the side.

Compared to their batting, the Lions' bowling line-up is formidable.
The English left-arm spinner, Monty Panesar, is the backbone of the Lions' bowling unit. Although Panesar has an unenviable economy rate of 7.55 in T20s, I guess RCB would better be prepared to tackle this wily spinner.
Friedel de Wet, the brand-new addition to the South African national side, is a very talented young quickie. Although he may go for runs when he is bowling with the new ball, he sure is a wicket-taking bowler.
Strategy Corner: Bowling first would be a safe bet in unfamiliar conditions. With the likes of Dale Steyn and Anil Kumble and other quality bowlers in the side, restricting them to below 150 would be a piece of cake. But I feel that the RCB batsmen hold the key in this crucial game. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Cheers.