The low, slow wicket in Delphi might not produce the sort of batting fireworks that the media might have hoped, but that doesn’t mean it can’t produce interesting matches. Today we had two very close games.

The day began with Victoria against Wayamba. The Sri Lankans batted first and made 119, which seemed like it probably wasn’t enough. However, they bowled very well, and apart from Brad Hodge none of the Bushrangers batsmen could come to terms with the wicket. Fortunately for Victoria, they only needed to get to 84, because if they did that they were guaranteed to go through to the next round on net run rate. As it turned out, they only got 103. Wayamba can take home the consolation of having won a game, but their tournament is over.

The second game of the day was a straight eliminator between Sussex Sharks and Bloemfontein Eagles. Both teams had lost to NSW, so whoever won today would go through. Sussex batted first, and made 119, which we now knew would take some getting. The South Africans started well, and at 72/0 they should have cruised through. However, Sussex pegged them back, and in the end it took Ryan McLaren hitting a four off the last ball to get their score up to, you guessed it, 119.

Match tied. What do we do now?

I must admit I thought Sussex were OK. They did better against NSW than the Eagles. They would go through on net run rate. But what do I know? Apparently the rules for the Champions’ League call for extra innings. This isn’t quite in the baseball mold. The teams play one extra innings each of either 6 balls or 2 wickets, whichever comes first. If they are still tied after that the number of 6s hit in the match is used as a tie-breaker.

The Eagles batted first and got 9, which isn’t a great score but at least they had runs on the board. They chose CJ deVilliers to bowl for them, and that kid (he’s only 23) could get a job as a Major League closer given the calm he showed. It took him just two balls to end the match. Both of them hit the stumps.

So, Victoria and Bloemfontein go through to the next round, which I have learned is called the “Super 8s”. They join Delhi, Bangalore, Cape Town, NSW and… two of the Deccan Chargers or Somerset Sabres or Trinidad & Tobago, depending on the result of tomorrow’s game between the Chargers and the West Indian side.