Sussex open CL T20 campaign against in-form NSW

New Delhi:

In-form New South Wales will take on English team Sussex Sharks in their second group B match of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament here on Sunday.

Adapting well to the low and slow Feroz Shah Kotla track, NSW defeated Diamond Eagles by 53 runs to open their campaign in style on Friday night.

Sussex, on the other hand, have not yet opened their campaign in the cash-awash league.

New South Wales' batting is a slight worry considering opener Philip Hughes is continuing to struggle for form.

Skipper Simon Katich adapted well on Friday night to lend stability to NSW's innings but he is known to take his time before settling down, something that he won't get very often in Twenty20 cricket.

But in David Warner, NSW have the aggressor who can change the face of the game with a just a few lusty blows.

The bowling, though, was impeccable with the pace duo of Brett Lee and Stuart Clark making quite a mark. Lee, in fact, managed a rare maiden over in a format, which is considered a bowler's worst nightmare.

Sussex, on the other hand, have yet to test the waters.

England's domestic Twenty20 champions come here straight after a great season and are not short of match practice.

Having played together all this while, they come here as a settled side and captain Michael Yardy is hoping to get some help in acclimatisation from Indian import Piyush Chawla.

The left-arm spinner, who is currently out of favour with the national selectors, would be aiming to once again come back into the limelight with good performances in the event.

In England players Luke Wright and Ed Joyce, the team has players with international experience with aggressive West Indian batsman Dwayne Smith adding to the side's versatility.

Overall, a balanced contest on paper but New South Wales will have the slight edge as they have already played on a track that the batsmen are finding tough to get familiar with.

New South Wales: Simon Katich (Captain), Aaron Bird, Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Simon Keen, Brett Lee, Steve O'Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Dominic Thornely, David Warner.

Sussex: Michael Yardy (Captain), Will Beer, Ben Brown, Piyush Chawla, Joe Gatting, Rory Hamilton-Brown, Andy Hodd, Ed Joyce, Chad Keegan, James Kirtley, Robin Martin-Jenkins, Chris Nash, Dwayne Smith, Luke Wright, Yasir Arafat.