Stuart Clark to captain New South Wales

Stuart Clark has been named New South Wales captain for the upcoming Sheffield Shield and one-day matches against Western Australia in Perth, with regular leader Simon Katich away on national duty.

The news will be a boost for Clark, who was overlooked for the first Test against West Indies starting next Thursday. This will Clark's first captaincy stint in first-class cricket, an opportunity he gets after impressing the team management with his tactics when he led the Blues in a couple of warm-up matches ahead of the Champions League Twenty20.

It will be a weakened Blues that Clark leads as six first-choice players - including Katich, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin - are part of Australia's squad for the West Indies Test in Brisbane.

The Blues will take on the Warriors in a 50-over match on November 25 at the WACA, with the Sheffield Shield game to start two days later.

NSW one-day squad: Stuart Clark (capt), Burt Cockley, Phillip Hughes, Moises Henriques, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Jaques, Dominic Thornely, Grant Lambert, Steven Smith, Daniel Smith (wk), Ben Rohrer, David Warner.

NSW Sheffield Shield squad: Stuart Clark (capt), Burt Cockley, Phil Hughes, Moises Henriques, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Jaques, Uzman Khawaja, Grant Lambert, Steven Smith, Daniel Smith (wk), Ben Rohrer, David Warner

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Lee powers NSW to Airtel CL T20 title

New South Wales were crowned the inaugural Airtel CL T20 winners after they snapped Trinidad & Tobago's fairytale campaign with a 41-run victory.

In a high-voltage summit clash in Hyderabad on Friday night, New South Wales had the last laugh with Brett Lee as their star performer.

In the title showdown featuring top two teams of the tournament, it was a battle between Caribbean flair and Australian profressionalism.

Put into bat, NSW fumbled and faltered in their innings to slump to 83 for six in the 12th over before finding a messiah in Lee, whose whirlwind 48 off 31 balls, along with Steven Smith's 33, guided them to 159 for nine.

Trinidad & Tobago's chase never gathered momentun and Kieron Pollard's (26 off 15 balls) last ditch attempt was not enough as the Caribbeans side folded for 118 in 15.5 overs.

After his batting heroics, Lee (2/10) was in the thick of action again, claiming two quick wickets to reduce T&T to 21 for three in the first eventful 14 balls.
Lee's second delivery castled the scoreless Wiliam Perkins and the blond pacer returned to catch Lendl Simmons off his own bowling in the next over.

In between, Adrian Barath hit Steve Smith's first three balls for successive fours followed it with a six before returning caught behind off the last delivery.

For T&T, crisis further compounded as Dwayne Bravo (17), and captain Darren Ganga (19) and Denesh Ramadin (16) fell when the team needed them most.

Pollard (26) tried to replicate the form he had shown in the league match against NSW but Nathan Hauritz had other ideas and for T&T, the match was over when Pollard fell in the 15th over.

Earlier, NSW discovered a batting hero in Brett Lee whose stunning 48, along with Steven Smith's 33, took the Australians past the 150-mark after they had slumped to 83 for six inside 12 overs.

Put into bat, NSW never really got going with Ravi Rampaul (3/20) and Dwayne Bravo (2/27) polishing the top order before some poor shot selections did the middle order in.

Down the order, Steven Smith, however, refused to throw in the towel and Lee then came up with a 31-ball blitzkrieg, studded with four fours and five sixes, before falling in the last ball of the innings.

David Warner and Phil Hughes have been key to New South Wales' success in the tournament so far but the left-handed opening pair, for once, proved they too had feet of clay.

Rampaul cleaned up Hughes (3) with the first delivery of his second over and then Bravo combined with an airborne Dave Mohammad to cut short Warner's (19) stay just when the stocky left-hander had started looking his ominous self.

Both the in-form NSW openers back in the hut inside five overs with the score reading a mere 32, this was clearly not the best of starts for the Australian side.

Simon Katich (16) decided to punish Bravo, hitting him for two sixes -- one miscued shot soared over long-on ropes and another effortless pull cleared fine leg -- in the same over before the pacer returned to settle score.

Three balls later, Moises Henriques (4) joined his captain in the hut, holing out in the deep off Kieron Pollard, and NSW were clearly in a hole at 49 for four.

Dave Mohammad removed Ben Rohrer (16) with his first delivery and Rampaul returned to disturb Daniel Smith's timbers in the next over before Lee joined Smith in the middle to steady the ship.

Even after Smith returned, there was no containing Lee who swung his bat to good effect to help the side cross the 150-mark that had looked a distant dream at one stage.

Teams:
New South Wales: PJ Hughes, DA Warner, DLR Smith†, MC Henriques, SM Katich, BJ Rohrer, SPD Smith, B Lee, NM Hauritz, SR Clark, DE Bollinger.

Trinidad & Tobago: A Barath, WKD Perkins, LMP Simmons, D Ganga, DJ Bravo, KA Pollard, D Ramdin†, S Ganga, ND Stewart, D Mohammed, R Rampaul.

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Katich bowled over by reaching final

New South Wales Blues captain Simon Katich praised his bowlers after reaching the final of the Champions League Twenty20.

NSW claimed a commanding 79-run win over Victoria Bushrangers in the first semi-final in Delhi.

David Warner (48) and Phil Hughes (35) gave NSW a cracking start on their way to a formidable 169 for seven.

Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, who shared the new ball with Brett Lee, then struck twice in his first over as Victoria's chase suffered an early jolt.

They never recovered from those blows and finished with a meagre 90 for nine.
"We thought of it earlier in the day and we thought he (Hauritz) would be an option to their batsman upfront. He did a great job and it worked," Katich said.

"With that new ball some spun and the others skidded on and it was always going to be hard for their opening batsmen to judge what was going to happen.

"Our bowlers have been fantastic right through the tournament and they are a big reason for our progress so far.

"It was a great team effort all around. Warner and Hughes set the tone early with the bat and the rest of the guys chipped in nicely.

"We tried to break it up, have left-right combinations in the middle overs to the spinners.

"We tried to keep the momentum going right through the innings, even when the ball got softer and made it harder to score towards the end.

"All the bowlers were outstanding and our fielding was really sharp.

"I think we have got consistent performances across the board with both bat and ball and hopefully we can carry that confidence into the final."

South African side Cape Cobras take on Trinidad and Tobago, the only team to have beaten NSW in the competition, in the second semi-final tomorrow.
Victoria captain Cameron White is already looking ahead to the next edition of the tournament.

"We were outplayed by a very good outfit," White admitted. "The pitch was marginally better than the ones we played on here earlier on, but it still wasn't a 160 pitch, although NSW got there.

"We gave away a few too many runs and the only thing we can do is to go back and work hard in Australia and hopefully we can qualify next year.

"I think the future of this tournament is strong and, from our point of view, it's a great experience for some of our guys who haven't been here before.

"We will take plenty of experience away and hopefully it will help us give it a crack again next year."

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NSW cruise into Airtel CL T20 final

New South Wales Blues booked their place in the Airtel CL T20 final with a commanding 79-run win over Victoria Bushrangers in Delhi.

New South Wales skipper Simon Katich won the toss and openers David Warner (48) and Phil Hughes (35) got off to a blistering start, while Katich's 26 ensured a colossal total of 169 for seven on a difficult surface.

Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, who shared the new ball, claimed two wickets at the start of Victoria's response and Moises Henriques ripped through the middle order with three for 11 as Victorian Bushrangers managed a meagre 90 for nine in reply.

Warner had given NSW a storming start, knocking the new ball around in typically belligerent style.

Shane Harwood and Peter Siddle had begun accurately, but Warner quickly launched into attack and dealt primarily in boundaries throughout his brief, but destructive innings.

The left-hander smashed Harwood for consecutive boundaries in his second over and bludgeoned Siddle for two boundaries and a six over long-off.

NSW made 56 from the powerplay and Warner had contributed 48 in an opening stand worth 62 when he was run out, a mix up with Hughes leaving him stranded yards out of his crease.

There was no let up, however, as Daniel Smith (20) clubbed the first ball he faced for a boundary and Hughes, who had watched while Warner had amassed the runs, turned on an aggressive display.

Victoria sniffed a chance when Hughes fell to Clint McKay and the scoring rate dropped slightly, but Katich's cameo ensured NSW finished with a formidable total.

Hauritz, who shared the new ball with Brett Lee, destroyed Victoria's chase by removing both openers, Rob Quiney and Brad Hodge, for ducks in his first over.

David Hussey (16) and Cameron White (11) were the only batsmen in the top six to reach double figures and attempted a fightback, but their resistance was nipped in the bud.

Both batsmen were snared by Henriques and Victoria were left needing 131 from 56 deliveries when White was dismissed.

Instead, wickets continued to tumble and Henriques returned to claim McKay for his third victim as NSW cantered to victory.

The Teams:

New South Wales: PJ Hughes, DA Warner, DLR Smith†, MC Henriques, SM Katich*, BJ Rohrer, SPD Smith, B Lee, NM Hauritz, SR Clark, DE Bollinger

Victorian Bushrangers: RJ Quiney, BJ Hodge, AC Blizzard, DJ Hussey, CL White*, AB McDonald, MS Wade†, CJ McKay, SM Harwood, JM Holland, PM Siddle

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Katich: We need to improve

New South Wales Blues captain Simon Katich says there are still areas to improve upon for the team ahead of their semi-final clash.

"Obviously we are happy. Two games we played in Delhi are outstanding with the ball, in the field and our bowling. We wanted to replicate here in Hyderabad. So there are still areas to improve on," Katich told reporters after the winning against the Somerset Sabres.

He said the semifinal would be a big challenge as all the teams are formidable.

"It is a big challenge because we know that every team that qualified is going to be of great standard. Each game that comes is going to be a big challenge," Katich said.

Katich expressed confidence that his team would put up a good show in Delhi as they were used to playing on a slow wicket in Sydney.

He said losing their earlier League A match against Trinidad and Tobago on October 16 was a wake up call.

"We actually learnt a lot from that match. Sometimes, not the worst things happen to lose a match. We are playing good cricket but it was a wake up call for us. Anything can happen on a given day in Twenty 20 cricket. It was a pretty good thing for us," he said.

Somerset captain Justin Langer admitted that his side did not play well against a world-class team like NSW.

"I think this is probably my last game. Obviously some sadness there. We tried to get on to a flying start. They have got such world-class players like Brett Lee, Stuart Clark.

They played really well. We did not play well at that," he said.

Describing Champions League Twenty 20 as a fantastic tournament, Langer said it can sustain whether it is played in South Africa, Australia or India.

"IPL was successful in South Africa. CL T20 will be successful whether it is in South Africa or Australia or India. There are lots of Indians who will watch cricket," said Langer when asked whether the Airtel CL T20 will be successful outside India.

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Clark helps Blues book semis spot

Somerset's Airtel CL T20 campaign came to an abrupt end as they suffered a convincing six-wicket defeat at the hands of New South Wales in Hyderabad.

A ferocious batting display from Blues opener David Warner, who hit 40 from just 16 balls, helped the Australian state side ease past Somerset's uncompetitive 111 for seven with 49 balls to spare.

After being asked to bat first Somerset's innings was wrecked by three Stuart Clark wickets and they had plummeted further until Zander de Bruyn (23) and Wes Durston's unbeaten 20 helped the county side at least pass the 100-run mark.

Warner then put the Somerset bowlers to the sword, smashing six fours and two sixes during his brief but entertaining innings, and ensure the Blues' place in the semi finals.

Somerset's batting frailties again came to the fore as they suffered another top-order collapse.

Clark, who took over after two tidy overs from Brett Lee with the new ball, removed Craig Kieswetter (13) and departing skipper Justin Langer (five) - who had announced before the Champions League that it would be his swansong with the Sabres - in his first over.

Clark struck again to remove James Hildreth (six), who promised much with an attractive boundary to get off the mark, in his second over.

Arul Suppiah (eight) was then run out and Peter Trego (three) perished while attempting to heave Nathan Hauritz across the line to leave Somerset reeling at 44 for five inside 10 overs.

De Bruyn and Omari Banks (15) briefly arrested the fall of wickets with a 37-run stand for the sixth wicket but both batsmen were dismissed in the space of an over and Somerset were in real danger of failing to cross the three-figure mark.

Durston, who top-scored with a career-best 57 in Somerset's previous game against Trinidad and Tobago, bafflingly was demoted to number eight.

Yet, he drilled two boundaries and a six, the only one of the inning, to help Somerset pass the 100-run mark.

Warner got NSW off to a rollicking start in typically belligerent fashion and dominated an opening stand with Phil Hughes worth 56 off just 28 deliveries.

Warner started with two boundaries in three balls off Charl Willoughby and was particularly harsh on Banks, clubbing the first-change bowler for four and six in his first over.

He slammed Banks for a six and two boundaries off the first three deliveries in the spinner's second over, but Banks hit back to snare the batsman caught by Jos Buttler in the deep.

NSW's line-up then wobbled with Hughes (18) and Daniel Smith (20) falling in one over from De Bruyn and Moises Henriques (eight) quickly after.

But NSW needed only 24 from 10.3 overs at that stage and captain Simon Katich chipped in with an unbeaten 18 to steer his team to victory.

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Pollard stuns Blues into submission

Kieron Pollard blasted a sensational 54 off just 18 balls to help Trinidad and Tobago snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against New South Wales Blues.

Pollard struck five fours and as many sixes to single-handedly drag out Trinidad & Tobago from the claws of defeat and seal the win with nine balls to spare.

Apart from Pollard, captain Darren Ganga (32 off 26), Darren Bravo (27 off 24) and Dinesh Ramdin (23 off 13) also shone with bat before the trio fell prey to unnecessary run outs.

For NSW, Brett Lee, Moises Henriques and Doug Bollinger picked up a wicket each.

Earlier, Philip Hughes (83 off 64) and David Warner (63 off 41) made merry against an inexperienced Trinidad & Tobago attack as the duo raised 121 runs for the opening wicket attack to help New South Wales post a mammoth 170 for four.

Dwayne Bravo was the most successful bowler for Trinidad with figures of three for 31, while left-arm chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed took one wicket, giving away 26 runs.

Chasing an imposing 171 for victory, Trinidad & Tobago lost their way after the early burst of William Perkins.

Perkins (16 off 13) showed early promise hitting two boundaries and a six but his over-aggression led to his downfall, caught by Nathan Hauritz off Lee.

Trinidad & Tobago dug a hole for themselves losing two more quick wickets in the form of Lendl Simmons and dangerman Dwayne Bravo.

Simmons was caught in front of the wicket by Bollinger, while Bravo was held at fine-leg by Bollinger off Henriques.

However, Ganga and Darren Bravo were in no mood to give up without a fight as the duo put on 47 runs for the fifth.

Hauritz came for some beating at the hands of the duo as both Ganga and Darren Bravo hit the off-spinner for a six each to give some momentum to the Trinidad & Tobago run chase.

Just when Ganga and Darren Bravo started to accelerate the innings, both the batsmen fell to unnecessary run outs.

But wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin and Pollard had other plans as they welcomed Steven Smith with a 15-run over to keep alive the chase.

With Ramdin running himself out, Pollard took the onus on his shoulders and completely changed the complexion of the match in one over.

He demolished Henriques for two back-to-back fours and then followed it up with three sixes to pile up massive 27 runs of the 17th over and reduce the equation for his side.

Needing 16 off 12 balls, Simon Katich made a blunder by handing the ball to Henriques as Pollard clobbered the pacer for a four, two sixes to finish off the match in style.

Earlier, opting to bat Warner and Hughes gave a rollicking start to the NSW innings, scoring 24 runs in the first two overs.

Both the left-handers were in a murderous mood from the word go as they clobbered Ravi Rampaul for three boundaries to pile up 14 runs in the opening over.

Sensing the ease with which the NSW openers were negotiating the pacers, Ganga introduced his brother Sherwin Ganga into the attack in the third over and the off-spinner did justice to his skipper's call, giving away just 17 runs in his four overs.

However, his good work was undone by Darren Bravo at the other end as Hughes struck him for two fours in the same over through midwicket to take NSW to 50 for no loss at the end of the powerplay.

The Caribbean side's problem was further compounded by their bowlers' inability to pick up wickets as Hughes and Warner piled up 71 runs at the halfway mark of their innings.

With wickets in hand, Warner cut loose in the 12th over and hit leg-spinner Samuel Badree for three sixes and a four to notch up his fifty in just 31 balls.

In search of quick runs, Warner's explosive innings, which included five fours and three huge sixes, finally came to an end when Dwayne Bravo caught him off Dave Mohammed.

It could have been double delight for Mohammed had the bowler managed to latch on to the straight forward chance of Hughes in the very next delivery.

The Caribbean side finally got something to cheer about in the final over as Dwayne Bravo scalped Henriques (17 off 10) and Hughes with back-to-back deliveries and then Ben Rohrer in the final ball of the innings.

Hughes was going great guns with 11 fours and a six before he was caught by Pollard off Bravo.

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New South Wales enter second round

Riding on a fine fifty by Philip Hughes and an all-round performance by Moises Henriques, New South Wales beat Sussex by 35 runs.

Chris Nash was the lone batsman, who provided some resistance even as wickets kept falling at the other end.

It was Brett Lee, who claimed the first wicket of Sussex by sending back the stand-in-captain Ed Joyce in the very first over as they chased a modest target of 131.

Sussex batsmen simply failed to apply themselves as New South Wales bowlers tightened the nooze. Lee, particualry came up with a brilliant spell, giving away just three runs in 2 overs in his first spell.

Henriques meanwhile, took two wickets.

Sussex was then just fighting a losing battle after they had lost more than half of their side for less than 70 runs on the board.

At the end, Sussex could only make 95 for eight in their allotted 20 overs, falling short by 35 runs.

Earlier, opener Philip Hughes and Moises Henriques scored unbeaten half-centuries to help New South Wales put up a modest 130 for two against Sussex Sharks in a Group B match of the inaugural Airtel Champions League match on Sunday.

Hughes played sensibly on the tricky Feroz Shah Kotla wicket to score 61 off 64 balls while Henriques was aggression personified from the time of his arrival at the crease as he took just 33 balls for his 51.

Opener David Warner was the other notable scorer for NSW with 14 runs off 18 deliveries with the help of two fours.

For Sussex leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was the lone wicket-taker, giving away 21 runs off his two overs.

Opting to bat, the NSW started on a cautious note on the unpredictable Kotla pitch, scoring 30 runs in the first six overs.

Sensing the uneven bounce of the wicket, both the openers Warner and Hughes played sensibly and build the foundation for the score instead of going after the bowling.

The duo dealt mostly in singles and twos with occasional boundaries in the middle before Warner was run out in the eight over.

Introduced into the attack in the ninth over, Chawla struck immediately, getting the wicket of Daniel Smith (2), caught at wide long-on boundary by Robin Martin-Jenkins.

Hughes, however, was determined to make up for his flop show against Diamond Eagles, clobbering Chawla over the long-off boundary. Inspired by his partner at the other end, Henriques swiped the leg-spinner over deep square leg to pick up 17 runs from the 11th over.

Although, Hughes was not as destructive as the format of the game demands, the left-hander was the backbone of the NSW innings and notched up his fifty in 52 balls.

He found the fence four times and cleared it once.

Henriques, on the other end, was in a ominous form, treating the Sussesx bowlers with disdain to score his fifty with the help of three fours and two sixes.

Sussex bowlers though did well in the slog overs, giving away just 35 runs in the last five overs to restrict the Australian side to the modest total.

New South Wales: PJ Hughes, DA Warner, SM Katich*, MC Henriques, BJ Rohrer, SPD Smith, DLR Smith†, B Lee, NM Hauritz, SR Clark, DE Bollinger.

Sussex: EC Joyce*, CD Nash, RJ Hamilton-Brown, DR Smith, JS Gatting, PP Chawla, Yasir Arafat, AJ Hodd†, RSC Martin-Jenkins, CB Keegan, BC Brown.

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NSW secure an easy win against Eagles

New South Wales' attack put up a spirited show to start their Airtel Champions League Twenty20 campaign on a high by beating Diamond Eagles by 53 runs.

After Simon Katich helped NSW put up 144 on the board, his bowlers wrecked havoc against Diamond Eagles. Eagles could only manage 91/9 in return.

Brett Lee sent the Eagles opener Rilee Rossouw packing right in the first over as umpire had no second thoughts in giving an lbw.

Adrian McLaren could not make it to the crease in time and Eagles lost two wickets before even making 15 runs inside three overs.

Morne van Wyk then headed back to the pavillion without opening his score. Phil Hughes took an easy catch at short midwicket off Stuart Clark for the third wicket.

Clark struck again to claim Boeta Dippenaar's wicket as Katich proved to be safe hands.

Eagles lost their fifth wicket in Dean Elgar as Nathan Hauritz picked his first one of the day.

Ryan Bailey was the sixth one to depart as he got run out.

Moises Henriques then accounted for the seventh wicket in Shadley van Schalkwyk.

Earlier, Diamond Eagles' bowling attack came good at the end of the innings to restrict New South Wales to 144/6. NSWRyan Bailey claimed the next one in Warner. He chipped it outside leg stump and Warner mistimed to lose his wicket.

Rossouw made no mistake at the long-off to dismiss Katich off Shadley van Schalkwyk to break NSW's momentum. had won the toss and elected to bat.

Victor Mpitsang bowled a slower one to Phil Hughes and got the better of his off-stump to account for the first wicket.

NSW at 69/1 at the end of the 10th over. Simon Katich and David Warner looking pretty good in the middle out there after the early loss. They had finished the first five overs at just 29/1.

Moises Henriques was the next victim of van Schalkwyk, with AP McLaren taking an easy catch at short point.

Dillon du Preez then sent Steven Smith packing to rock NSW's hopes of putting up a decent score on board.

Brett Lee was then run out without opening his account as his side finished at 144/6.

Diamond Eagles will have to play out of their skin to start their Airtel CL T20 campaign on a winning note against a formidable NSW Blues.

Considering the big names in captain Simon Katich, Stuart Clark, Nathan Hauritz and Brett Lee among others in the NSW
squad, Lee, the champion Australian side is undoubtedly the overwhelming favourites in the opening Group B match at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi.

On the other hand, the Eagles are the underdogs in the encounter, but one thing which is in the favour of Boeta Dippenaar-led side is their opponents lack of knowledge about them.

The Teams:

New South Wales: MC Henriques, PJ Hughes, BJ Rohrer, DLR Smith†, SPD Smith, B Lee, NM Hauritz, SR Clark, DE Bollinger, DA Warner, SM Katich

Diamond Eagles: AP McLaren, RR Rossouw, MN van Wyk†, HH Dippenaar*, D Elgar, RT Bailey, R McLaren, D du Preez, SC van Schalkwyk, T Tshabalala, PV Mpitsang

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