The SKYCITY Northern Knights aren't getting too far ahead of themselves. They enter the Champions League Twenty20 having won the HRV Twenty20 competition back in January and boasting a line-up chock a block with experience, current BLACKCAPS and youthful enthusiasm. This is a squad that on paper can match it with any team in the tournament - but don't tell that to skipper Daniel Flynn.
"First and foremost qualifying for the main tournament is our priority. We know we're going to have three tough games against sub-continent based sides who are going to be used to conditions, so it's a good test for us," says Flynn. "We've got an experienced squad with a lot of international players that have been to this part of the world many times, so we're banking on that. Once we qualify we'll re-assess things from there."
To qualify, the Knights will need to finish in the top two of a four team qualifying group made up of Sri Lanka's Southern Express, Pakistan's Lahore Lions and India's Mumbai Indians, who have a very familiar face among their line-up. Corey Anderson could have turned out for the Knights, but his IPL side have called him up for this tournament (and paid NZC $150,000 for the privilege). It's a feature of modern T20 cricket that sometime team mates end up playing against each other, but it's not fazing Tim Southee:
"We know more than most people about Corey, but in saying that, he knows a lot about us as well," says Southee.
The Knights arrive in Raipur.
Southee lines up alongside BLACKCAPS team mates Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, BJ Watling, Ish Sodhi and Anton Devcich in the side. Sodhi, Devcich and Watling, along with Daryl Mitchell and Scott Kuggeleijn have come straight from the successful New Zealand A tour of England and Scotland (which Watling captained), and Williamson has been playing for the high-flying Yorkshire country side before joining the men in pink. When you add the experience of Daniel Flynn and Scott Styris to the mix, this team should fear no-one at the tournament.
"I think we've got a pretty well-rounded squad," says Flynn. "We've got two quality swing bowers ranked in the top ten Test ratings, so we're looking for that experience to make some inroads at the top of the innings. We've got a lot of experience in the batting as well with some international players who are accustomed to the conditions, so I think we're a well rounded squad - we'll certainly put up a good fight."
As for any New Zealand side travelling to the sub continent, quickly getting comfortable with the pitches, heat and touring life in India will be key. The Knights have prepared with a series of training camps at Mount Maunganui, before assembling in Bangalore to acclimatise and train. At least two wins from the three qualifying games *should* be enough to get the Knights into the tournament proper, and they'll be eyeing up the first two matches to do the job before meeting the John Wright-coached, star-studded Mumbai Indians who boast the likes of Michael Hussey and Lasith Malinga as well as Corey Anderson.
The qualifying tournament starts this Saturday night NZ time, with the Knights' schedule as follows:
Southern Express (Sri Lanka) - Saturday 13 September 10.30pm NZ time
Lahore Lions (Pakistan) - Sunday 14 September 10.30pm NZ time
Mumbai Indians (India) - Thursday 18 September 3.30am NZ time
All qualifying matches will be played at Chhattisgarh International Cricket Stadium, Raipur. The top two teams in the six-match qualifying group will progress to the tournament's main draw - the final will be played on Sunday 5 October at Bengaluru.
The SKYCITY Northern Knights see and raise Ellen's selfie.
Coverage
All the Knights' matches are televised live on SKY Sport and will be live scored at blackcaps.co.nz. The Knights' schedule is available at blackcaps.co.nz, the full tournament schedule is available at the Champions League T20 site.
See the Knights' full squad at www.gotheknights.co.nz and get all the updates through www.facebook.com/NorthernKnights and on Twitter at @ndcaknights.
