All Time Great Championship: T20 Franchise Frenzy

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Round 3 Results
In Group A, Gemini Arabians and Islamabad United continue to hold onto their spots at the top of their table. Perth Scorcher's two victories over Comilla Victorians gave the Scorchers a stronghold on a top 3 spot. With only two rounds remaining, it will be difficult for the Comilla Victorians or Sunrisers Eastern Cape (who had a bye this round) to break into finals from here. There's more room for movement in Group B with CSK remaining undefeated on top of their table and the two bottom teams walked away with a win each when they played each other. At the moment it's a three-way race for third between Auckland Aces, Southern Braves and Jaffina Kings.

Watson walked away with two Man of the Match awards this round thanks to his batting performances. His 116 is the highest score of the tournament so far and he is almost 100 runs clear of the leading run-scorers. Without a doubt, he earned the batting performance of the round. When Southern Brave were bowled out for 106, it was Theekshana leading the way with four wickets taken from the middle order. Not only did he take four wickets, his four overs went for only 14 runs, giving him the best bowling performance of the round.

Group A

CV lost to PS PS defeated CV

IU defeated GemAr GemAr defeated IU

SEC - bye

Group B

AUCK lost to CSK TKR defeated AUCK

JK defeated SB SB defeated JK

TKR - bye

Current Standings

Group A	Played	Wins	Ties	NRR	Total
Gemini Arabians	6	4		0.84	8
Islamabad United	4	3		0.61	6
Perth Scorchers	4	3		0.44	6
Comilla Victorians	6	1		-1.04	2
Sunrisers Eastern Cape	4	1		-1.60	2

Group B	Played	Wins	Tie	NRR	Total
Chennai Super Kings	6	6		1.82	12
Trinbago Knight Riders	4	3		1.65	6
Auckland Aces	4	1		-0.92	2
Southern Brave	6	1		-1.00	2
Jaffina Kings	4	1		-1.45	2

Tournament Stat Leaders

Batter	Runs	Bowler	Wickets
S Watson (CSK)	363	M Saifuddin (CV)	13
M Hayden (CSK)	274	S Mushtaq (GemAr)	11
S Chanderpaul (GemAr)	261	L Livingstone (PS)	10
D Conway (SB)	252	M Mortaza (CV)	10
M Dhoni (CSK)	198	D Chahar (CSK) + 3 others	10

Round 4 Fixture

Group A

PS vs IU

SEC vs CV

GemAr - bye

Group B

AUCK vs JK

TKR vs CSK

SB - bye

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Game 13A: Perth Scorchers vs Islamabad United
Perth Scorchers XI: H Gibbs, S Marsh, L Livingstone, A Voges, C Bancroft, M Marsh*, J Inglis*, A Agar, B Hogg, M Johnson, A Tye
Islamabad United XI: C Munro, A Hales, B Haddin, M ul-Haq, L Ronchi+, A Russell, I Wasim, S Khan*, M Sami, U Gul
Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to bowl.

Islamabad United
B Haddin 59*(32), C Munro 59(40)
L Livingstone 1-19, A Agar 1-25

5-195 (20 overs)

Perth Scorchers
A Voges 49(26), H Gibbs 46(41)
A Russell 1-24, F Ashraf 1-35

5-196 (20 overs)

Perth Scorchers won by 5 wickets
A Voges was awarded Man of the Match.

Munro and Hales put on 100 runs together in the first 10 overs before Hogg broke the partnership. It didn't get much better once Haddin launched an unbeaten 50 to finish the innings off. Fortunately for the Scorchers, none of the other batsmen made it past 10 runs. An all-round effort from the Scorchers' batsmen had them within 15 runs of victory in the last over. Back-to-back-to-back 4s from Inglis had the match in the bag before Gul slowed things down for the next two balls. Scores were level with one delivery to go and Inglish pushed it straight to cover but a direct hit was not enough to stop the single and the Scorchers walked away with the win.

Game 13B: Islamabad United vs Perth Scorchers
Islamabad United XI: C Munro, A Hales, B Haddin, M ul-Haq, L Ronchi+, A Russell, I Wasim, S Khan*, F Ashraf, M Sami, U Gul
Perth Scorchers XI: H Gibbs, S Marsh, L Livingstone, A Voges, C Bancroft, M Marsh*, J Inglis*, A Agar, B Hogg, M Johnson, A Tye
Islamabad United won the toss and elected to bowl.

Perth Scorchers
S Marsh 54(32), H Gibbs 27(18)
S Khan 3-30, U Gul 1-40

7-199 (20 overs)

Islamabad United
C Munro 106*(55), 37(21)
L Livingstone 1-3, A Tye 1-62

2-201 (20 overs)

Islamabad United won by 8 wickets
C Munro was awarded Man of the Match.

After a fantastic start from Shaun Marsh, Islamabad's spinners slowed the flow of runs. Three wickets fell from one of Shadab Khan's overs, but Perth's lower order bounced back and smashed the rest of United's bowlers to score 199 runs after 20 overs. A 50+ partnership between Munro and Hales was followed up by another 50+ run partnership from Munro and Haddin. And to round things off, that was followed up by another 50+ partnership from Munro and ul-Haq. In 18 overs, Munro led the way with a brilliant century off 53 balls that included 20 boundaries. United chased down the 200 required runs with two overs to spare.

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Game 14A: Sunrisers Eastern Cape vs Comilla Victorians
Sunrisers Eastern Cape XI: J Hermann, T Bavuma, T Stubbs, A Markram*, J Smuts, A Rossington+, M Jansen, R van de Merwe, S Magala, O Baartman, B Carse
Comilla Victorians XI: T Iqbal, L Das+, D Malan, M Rizwan, M Ali, M Samuels, A Russell, S Afridi, M Saifuddin, R Khan, M Mortaza*
Comilla Victorians won the toss and elected to bat.

Comilla Victorians
M Rizwan 59(35), D Malan (38) 27
O Baartman 5-34, 2-28

8-169 (20 overs)

Sunrisers Eastern Cape
J Hermann 40(26), T Stubbs 28(26)
R Khan 3-24, 2-22

153 (19.5 overs)

Comilla Victorians won by 16 runs
M Rizwan was awarded Man of the Match.

A standout 5fa from Baartman gave Comilla's batsmen a hard time but a fighting 50 from Rizwan allowed his team to reach a solid 169 runs. It was always going to be a tough total to defend on a completely flat deck. If there's one bowler who could squeeze out every dot ball on a flat deck, it was Rashid Khan. He took three wickets and went for just six runs per over. He was also supported by Mortaza and Afridi who also bowled out their overs at a run-a-ball as well as taking a few wickets on the way. Out of the 18 runs needed from the last over, SEC managed only two of them.

Game 14B: Comilla Victorians vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Comilla Victorians XI: T Iqbal, L Das+, D Malan, M Rizwan, M Ali, M Samuels, A Russell, S Afridi, M Saifuddin, R Khan, M Mortaza*
Sunrisers Eastern Cape XI: J Hermann, T Bavuma, T Stubbs, A Markram*, J Smuts, A Rossington+, M Jansen, R van de Merwe, S Magala, O Baartman, B Carse
Comilla Victorians won the toss and elected to bat.

Comilla Victorians
D Malan 71*(44), T Iqbal 50(36)
O Baartman 1-29, M Jansen 1-33

3-181 (20 overs)

Sunrisers Eastern Cape
T Stubbs 96(48), A Markram 62(48)
M Mortaza 3-24, M Saifuddin 1-34

5-182 (20 overs)

Sunrisers Eastern Cape won by 5 wickets
T Stubbs was awarded Man of the Match.

Iqbal got the Victorians off to the perfect start with a 50, which was followed up by an unbeaten 71 from Malan to put Comilla into a similar position to their first game. None of the SEC bowlers could stem the flow of runs as they allowed batsmen to reach 181 runs. Two wickets fell in the opening overs of the chase but a 151-run partnership from Stubbs and Markram guided SEC within a few runs of victory before Mortaza knocked over a couple of late wickets. It was too little, too late as SEC scampered through for the winning runs with an over to spare.

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Game 15A: Auckland Aces vs Jaffina Kings
Auckland Aces XI: C Munro, M Guptil, M Chapman, C de Grandhomme, R O'Donnell*, C Fletcher+, A Mahmood, K Mills, A Adams, M McClenaghan, L Ferguson
Jaffina Kings XI: A Fernando*, S Samarawickrama+, R Rossouw, S Malik, R Gurbaz, T Kohler-Cadmore, T Perera, W Hasaranga, D Wellage, M Theekshana, J Behrendorff
Auckland Aces won the toss and elected to bowl.

Jaffina Kings
S Samarawickrama 49(22), R Gurbaz 42(15)
L Ferguson 4-60, A Adams 2-53

8-242 (20 overs)

Auckland Aces
R O'Donnell 32(23), M McClenaghan 32*(14)
D Wellage 3-19, J Beherndorff 2-24

8-144 (20 overs)

Jaffina Kings won by 98 runs
D Wellage was awarded Man of the Match

You would think an innings where the two highest scores were in the 40s would be a positive sign for the bowlers. The Jaffina Kings batsman decided to hit out or get out and posted a huge score of 242. Fernando was The only batsman not scoring with a strike rate over 200. The wickets were regular but it was a fireworks display in between dismissals. The target of 242 runs was never in the picture for the chase and if it wasn't for an unbeaten 32 from McClenaghan at number 10, it stopped this from being one of the biggest losses in Auckland's history.

Game 15A: Auckland Aces vs Jaffina Kings
Jaffina Kings XI: A Fernando*, S Samarawickrama+, R Rossouw, S Malik, R Gurbaz, T Kohler-Cadmore, T Perera, W Hasaranga, D Wellage, M Theekshana, J Behrendorff
Auckland Aces XI: C Munro, M Guptil, M Chapman, C de Grandhomme, R O'Donnell*, C Fletcher+, A Mahmood, K Mills, A Adams, M McClenaghan, L Ferguson
Jaffina Kings won the toss and elected to bat.

Jaffina Kings
S Samarawickrama 60(36), A Fernando 46(27)
C de Grandhomme 2-33, M McClenaghan 1-46

4-205 (20 overs)

Auckland Aces
C de Grandhomme 56*(43), K Mills 34(31)
W Hasaranga 2-29, J Behrendorff 2-39

Jaffina Kings won by 49 runs
S Samarawickrama was awarded Man of the Match.

Jaffina Kings reached another 200+ run total. Openers, Fernando and Wickramaled led the way with an 85-run partnership. Gurbaz and TKC finished the innings with a blazing unbeaten 62-run partnership. A lightning-paced opening stand from Munro and Guptil had the Aces on track early but a string of wickets from Behrendorff and the spinners put a swift end to any hopes of a successful chase. The Ace's lone highlight of the game was de Grandhomme's unbeaten half-century to go along with two big losses.

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Game 16A: Trinbago Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings
Trinago Knight Riders XI: C Munro, L Simmons, B McCullum*, H Amla, K Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, A Russell, A Hosein, S Narine, R Rampaul, A Khan
Chennai Super Kings XI: M Hayden, S Watson, M Vijay, M Dhoni*+, S Raina, M Hussey, D Bravo, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, D Chahar, I Tahir
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat.

Chennai Super Kings
S Raina 50(26), M Vijay43(29)
A Khan 3-25, D Bravo 3-38

8-179 (20 overs)

Trinbago Knight Riders
D Bravo 73*(39), B McCullum 43(43)
D Bravo 3-43, R Ashwin 1-25

5-183 (20 overs)

Trinbago Knight Riders won by 5 wickets
D Bravo (TKR) was awarded Man of the Match.

Both of the tournament's leading run-scorers, Watson and Hayden, fell cheaply in the first few overs off the bowling of Bravo. Vijay and Raina rallied to put on a partnership to rebuild their innings but once that partnership was broken, the wickets tumbled again. CSK were on their way to an underwhelming score until Chahar teed off on the last over, adding an extra 26 runs to his team's total off the final six deliveries. Bravo and American, Ali Khan, were the spearheads of the bowling attack, picking up three wickets each. Munro started the chase with an explosive but short-lived start that drastically reduced the required run-rate early in the chase. Ashwin undid any progress Munro made with some very tight bowling but it was Bravo who proved to be the difference again with both bat and ball by bringing his side home to victory with an unbeaten 73, including a 15-run final over and a final-ball 4 to seal the deal.

Game 16B: Chennai Super Kings vs Trinbago Knight Riders
Chennai Super Kings XI: M Hayden, S Watson, M Vijay, M Dhoni*+, S Raina, M Hussey, D Bravo, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, D Chahar, I Tahir
Trinago Knight Riders XI: C Munro, L Simmons, B McCullum*, H Amla, K Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, A Russell, A Hosein, S Narine, R Rampaul, A Khan
Trinbago Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bowl.

Chennai Super Kings
M Hayden 95(57), M Dhoni 35(24)
R Rampaul 3-46, A Khan 1-5

5-178 (20 overs)

Trinbago Knight Riders
C Munro 43(23), H Amla 42(28)
R Jadeja 3-35, I Tahir 2-27

7-177 (20 overs)

Chennai Super Kings won by 1 run
M Hayden was awarded Man of the Match.

Making up for his duck in the first innings, Hayden made a statement with a score of 95 runs. It was almost a century but was caught on the boundary on the final ball of the innings. Cameos from the rest of the top order allowed CSK to reach 178 runs. The only bowler to take multiple wickets was Rampaul with the big scalps of Dhoni, Raina (for a golden duck) and Hayden as mentioned above. Fast-paced scores from Munro, Amla and Pollard had CSK looking down the barrel of two straight losses. Needing less than a run per ball from the final three overs, Bravo and Jadeja disrupted the flow of runs with three wickets and despite needing just two runs off the last three balls, Bravo produced a wicket and two dots to win the match.

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Round 4 Results
In Group A, the Round 4 results had no impact on standings going into the penultimate round. If anything, it only reinforced which three teams will make it through to the finals. A single win to the SEC this round does keep them in the running but it will take a monumental effort for them to break into the top three. It was a similar story in Group B with the Round 4 results almost confirming the top three. With one win each, Southern Brave and the Auckland Aces aren't completely out of the running but will go head-to-head against each other to see who ends up in last place.

The batting performance of the round goes to the entire Jaffina Kings batting lineup, who scored a mammoth 242 runs against the Auckland Aces without a single batsman passing 50. A phenomenal team batting effort. Baartman proved to be the pick of the bowlers for this round. Despite being a late addition to the SEC XI, he has quickly risen up the leading wicket-taker list with impressive figures. His latest outing saw him collect a 5fa in a losing game followed up by a economic spell that led his team to their second win of the tournament.

Group A

PS defeated IU IU defeated PS

SEC lost to CV CV lost to SEC

GemAR - bye

Group B

AUCK lost to JK JK defeated AUCK

TKR defeated CSK CSK defeated TKR

SB - bye

Standings

Group A	Played	Wins	Ties	NRR	Total
Gemini Arabians	6	4		0.84	8
Islamabad United	6	4		0.57	8
Perth Scorchers	6	4		-1.09	8
Comilla Victorians	8	2		-0.71	4
Sunrisers Eastern Cape	6	2		-1.05	4

Group B	Played	Wins	Tie	NRR	Total
Chennai Super Kings	8	7		1.34	14
Trinbago Knight Riders	6	4		1.13	8
Jaffina Kings	6	3		0.34	6
Southern Brave	6	1		-1.00	2
Auckland Aces	6	1		-1.84	2

Tournament Stat Leaders

Batter	Runs	Bowler	Wickets
S Watson (CSK)	393	M Saifuddin (CV)	16
M Hayden (CSK)	369	M Mortaza (CV)	15
S Chanderpaul (GemAr)	261	D Bravo (CSK)	14
M Dhoni (CSK)	256	L Livingstone	12
D Conway (SB)	252	R Rampaul (TKR)	12

Round 5 Fixture

Group A

GemAr vs PS

SEC vs IU

CV - Bye

Group B

SB vs AUCK

TKR vs JK

CSK - Bye

Who Will Make the Finals?

Group A
After their bye, the Gemini Arabians are still holding on to the top stop thanks to their NRR. It is a very tight race for the top spot, with Islamabad and Perth having an equal amount of wins as the ladder leaders. In the bottom two spots, the Comilla Victorians and Sunrisers Eastern Cape have two wins each. Unfortunately with a bye this round, the Victorians are out of the running for a top-three spot. The final round sees the Arabians go up against the Scorchers and a clash between Islamabad United and SEC. If SEC pulls off an unlikely double win, they could see themselves propelled into the top three depending on the NRR of the other teams. If that does not happen, then the Arabians, Islamabad and the Scorchers will be vying for the top spot. Islamabad are most likely to take it since they are going up against the team at the bottom of the table.

Group B
CSK have dominated their group stage matches and have secured a spot at the top of the table and a ticket straight to the semi-finals. With a bye this round, they can put their feet up and watch the other teams duke it out for second and third spots. TKR also sealed a spot in the top three and just one win against the Kings will see them locked in at second and a home qualifying final. Jaffina Kings will need two wins against TKR to leapfrog them into second since there is a large NRR gap between the two teams. Southern Brave and the Auckland Auckland will go head-to-head for a cellar dweller clash in their final game of the group stage. If (and it's a big if) either of them wins both of their matches by a large enough margin and TKR win both of their games against the Jaffina Kings, the Jaffina Kings could be knocked out of the tournament. Still, it is a very unlikely scenario.

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Game 17A: Gemini Arabians vs Perth Scorchers
Gemini Arabians: S Chanderpaul, V Sehwag*, K Sangakkara+, B Hodge, R Levi, S Ali, J Kemp, K Mills, N ul-Hasan, S Mushtaq, M Muralitharan
Perth Scorchers: S Marsh, H Gibbs, M Marsh*, A Voges, C Bancroft, J Inglis, L Livingstone, A Agar, B Hogg, M Johnson, J Behrendorff
Gemini Arabians won the toss and elected to bowl.

Perth Scorchers
M Marsh 61(32), S Marsh36(26)
K Mills 4-35, M Muralitharan 3-26

9-172 (20 overs)

Gemini Arabians
S Ali 46(28), K Mills 26*(21)
J Behrendorff 3-30, A Agar 3-31

169 (19.5 overs)

Perth Scorchers won by 3 runs
M Marsh was awarded Man of the Match.

The Marsh brothers and Gibbs set the Scorchers up with the perfect start, reaching 2-128 at the 13-over mark. Mitch Marsh's fifty helped the runs tick over at a rapid pace but a three-wicket over from Murali and a 4fa from Mills brought any chance of a big score crashing down. After a brilliant start, the Scorchers had to settle for a target of 172 runs. Behrendorff started the defence with his own three-wicket over. None of the Arabians were able to stick around except for Ali, who put on a solid 46 in his maiden match. Ali, Kemp and Mills put on some much-needed runs in the lower order but when tasked with scoring 10 runs off the final over, Johnson picked up the final three wickets, and the Arabians fell just three runs short.

Game 17B: Perth Scorchers vs Gemini Arabians
Perth Scorchers: S Marsh, H Gibbs, M Marsh*, A Voges, C Bancroft, J Inglis, L Livingstone, A Agar, B Hogg, M Johnson, J Behrendorff
Gemini Arabians: S Chanderpaul, V Sehwag*, K Sangakkara+, B Hodge, R Levi, S Ali, J Kemp, K Mills, N ul-Hasan, S Mushtaq, M Muralitharan
Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to bat first.

Perth Scorchers
H Gibbs 23(17), A Voges 23(19)
M Muralitharan 3-24, K Mills 2-31

6-135 (20 overs)

Gemini Arabians
S Chanderpaul 74*(50), S Ali 30*(31)
B Hogg 2-28, A Agar 1-23

4-137 (17.4 overs)

Gemini Arabians won by 5 wickets
S Chanderpaul was awarded Man of the Match.

The Scorchers would have felt frustrated they could not put more runs on the board while still having four wickets up their sleeves. The Arabian bowling attack was tight and economical, and none of the Perth batsmen ever looked settled. While Murali and Mills were amongst the wickets again, Mushtaq was the standout bowler, going for just 3.25 runs per over. Despite some tricky bowling from the Scorcher spinners, Hogg and Agar, the Arabians looked comfortable as they waltzed to victory with time to spare. Chanderpaul was unbeaten for the entirety of the chase and Saqib Ali has likely cemented his spot in the team just in time for finals. Their final game of the Group Stage confirmed a top 2 finish for them while Perth's loss sees them finish in third for their group.