Brett Lee walked up to the bowling crease ever-so-slowly, jumped into a side-on position and let rip a googly. Though not as precise as Shane Warne, Lee’s leg-spinners might well be effective on the sluggish Ferozeshah Kotla wicket.

Lee could also be responsible for a few curious heads tuning in for the all-Australian semi-final on Wednesday night, clueless of the traditional New South Wales-Victoria rivalry extended to a neutral platform.

NSW have the edge, backed by a favourable record against Victoria over a period of time, but Wednesday could witness a fierce contest between the two competitive outfits.

Victoria have more power in their batting, with players such as Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Rob Quiney and Cameron White tailormade for T20, but NSW have a series of performers with the ball — both with pace and spin — in Lee, Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark, Nathan Hauritz, Steven Smith apart from the useful seam bowling of Moises Henriques that could make a high score or a chase at the Kotla impossible.

The dew will reduce the coin’s influence but the toss will remain vital; New South Wales have an all-win record at the Kotla but Victoria are the only team who chased and won here, quite comprehensively. For India, though, the sole interest in the first semi-final of the Champions League will be an opportunity to assess how the wicket might play out on the 31st of this month, when India and Australia square off here in an ODI.

... contd.