The Best of 2017: T20 League wise Best teams

The shortest format of the game, the T20 cricket, arguably has the most number of followers in the modern day cricket. The growing popularity of the format can largely be credited to the emergence of several T20 leagues across the globe. T20 League promises the audience a power packed three and a half hours of action with a plethora of big names on the cards for a game. This is perhaps the solitary reason why the leagues have managed to garner immense popularity among the masses. Compare this to the longer formats, one cannot see the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers playing for the same team. Neither is this possible in the T20Is. The only way this could happen was through a T20 league. The year of 2017 saw a plethora of T20 leagues being played. In fact, the year end also saw T10 league surfacing up. While the future of T10 remains to be same, the future of T20 looks bright and fulfilling without a doubt. All these T20 leagues saw some very strong outfits emerging out to be the eventual champions. Here we take a look at these champions outfits who were the best teams in their respective T20 leagues in the 2017 season. From the Indian Premier League to the Karnataka Premier League, the list features all the top teams: Here are the best T20 teams of 2017: 1. Indian Premier League – Mumbai Indians Mumbai Indians celebrate with IPL 2017 trophy. (Photo: IANS) Mumbai Indians created history by becoming the first team in the history of the IPL to win three championships. They had a dismal start to their 2017 campaign with a defeat against the Rising Pune Supergiant. However, they pulled their socks up to win 6 consecutive matches thereafter. Their skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front and aggregated 333 runs in the season. But the real performers for them were opener Parthiv Patel and young gun Nitish Rana. Towards the fag end of the season, the Pandya brothers started peaking as welll. During the course of the tournament, they had some very tense games. This included a tie against Gujarat Lions. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a magninficent super over to seal the game for MI. In the business end, Mumbai Indians lost to RPS in the Qualifier 1 – their third defeat in the season against the Supergiant. But they bounced back well to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 6 wickets in Qualifier 2 and set up the title clash against RPS! In the finals, Krunal Pandya’s gutsy all-round show helped MI to win by just 1 run! 2. Karnataka Premier League – Belagavi Panthers Belagavi Panthers celebrate the victory. (Photo Source: KPL) Over the last couple of years, the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) has grown in stature big time. The 2017 edition proved to be bigger and better edition of the tournament. Belagavi Panthers emerged as the eventual champions of the tournament after convincingly beating Bijapur Bulls in the finals by 6 wickets. During the course of the tournament, they only lost two matches and were a dominant side throughout. The Panthers boasted of some big names in their side like Manish Pandey and K Gowtham. Also, their young spinner Shubhang Hegde won the Emerging Player award in the tournament. The team has certainly managed to come a long way under captaincy of veteran cricketer Sreenath Arvind. 3. Tamil Nadu Premier League – Chepauk Super Gillies Chepauk Super Gillies. (Photo Source: Photobank77) The Chepauk Super Gillies were rightly crowned as the champions of the 2017 Tamil Nadu Premier League. They were absolutely ruthless throughout the course of the tournament and were the favorites to win the title. Much like any competitive outfit, they had to conquer their nemesis to lift the title. During the league stages, the only team that beat them was the TUTI Patriots. Also, the Patriots beat the Gillies by 8 wickets in the Qualifier 1. A convincing 27 run win over Lyca Kovai Kings in Qualifier 2 set them a date with their nemesis, TUTI Patriots, in the finals. This time around, Chepauk Super Gillies managed to beat the Patriots by 6 wickets to lift the title. 4. Bangladesh Premier League – Rangpur Riders Rangpur riders celebrate their BPL 2017 title win. (Photo Source: Twitter) The Rangpur Riders had a roller coaster ride en route their maiden title win in the BPL. They started off on a high with a win over the Rajshahi Kings. However, three trash defeats followed to keep their moral down. Soon, the team was joined by the powerhouse duo of Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle. Since then, the fortunes changed and the Riders lost only 3 more games. In the Eliminator, Chris Gayle powered them home with a thundering knock against the Khulna Titans. The story of Qualifier 2 was no different as Johnson Charles, Gayle’s opening partner, singlehandedly demolished the Comilla Victorians. And on the night of the finals Chris Gayle’s whirlwind 146 set up the base for the emphatic title win for the Rangpur Riders against the Dhaka Dynamites. 5. McDonald’s Super Smash – Wellington Firebirds Firebirds players for a team huddle during a Twenty20 Supersmash match. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Unlike most other teams in the list, the Wellington Firebirds did not have the most dominating run in their T20 league. They started peaking up and gained momentum as the tournament progressed. Such was the nature of the Super Smash – the domestic T20 league of New Zealand – that most of the teams finished with similar standings at the end of the league stages. The Firebirds won 5 out of the 10 matches they played in the league stages to finish with 20 points – the same number that Auckland Aces and Canterbury finished with. In the nail biting finals, Wellington beat Canterbury by 3 wickets to face Central Districts in the finals. In the finals, they stared at embarrassment with 108/6 at one stage. But cameos in the end by Matt Taylor (48*) and Jeetan Patel (28*) helped them finish with 172 on the board. Their bowlers responded well to restrict the Central Districts to just 158/8 in the run chase and won the championship by 14 runs. 6. Pakistan Super League – Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi. (Photo Source: Twitter) Among all the T20 leagues that made big news ahead of the night of the finals, the T20 league that arguably generated the most number of headlines was the Pakistan Super League. The 2017 edition of the PSL was a historic one indeed as it brought back cricket of international sorts to the Pakistani soil. The finals of the tournament was played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators locked horns for the ultimate glory. While the Zalmi were lucky to have the services of their overseas players including skipper Darren Sammy in the finals, the Gladiators faced a handicap with their overseas stars backing out. Replacements were made for the final game but that did not really help the cause of the Gladiators as Zalmi won the PSL 2017. It was a big win for the Zalmi as they won the title by 58 runs. The Zalmis unearthed Hasan Ali in the tournament. During the course of the tournament, they were the most consistent sides and were the firm favorites to win the title. 7. NatWest T20 Blast – Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire celebrate winning the NatWest T20 Blast. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/PA Images via Getty Images) The NatWest T20 Blast stands out as a unique T20 league for the reason that there are many teams competing for the glory. In the 2017 edition, the T20 Blast had 18 teams competing for the silverware. It all boiled down to the domestic giants, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire, facing in the big finals. Samit Patel’s all-round show in the match sealed the glory for the Notts. Batting first, the Notts amassed 190/4 in their 20 overs riding on Samit’s unbeaten 64 off 42 balls and Brendan Taylor’s 65. They restricted Warwickshire to just 168/8 in the run chase to win the title by 22 runs. Harry Gurney bagged 4/17 for the Notts. Earlier in the competition, Nottinghamshire was the most dominant side in the group stages. They had top the North Group with 8 wins in 14 matches. 8. Big Bash League – Perth Scorchers The Scorchers celebrate winning the Big Bash League. (Photo by Stefan Gosatti – CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images) The Perth Scorchers continued their merry run in the Big Bash League 2016-17. They went on to register their third title win. The Scorchers played the Sydney Sixers in the finals of the season and beat them handsomely by 9 wickets! After restricting the Sixers to mere 141, the Scorchers marched past the total riding on Michael Klinger’s unbeaten 71. Earlier in the tournament semis, Mitchell Johnson’s herculean spell had set up the base for the big win against the Melbourne Stars. Johnson had returned with terrestrial numbers of 4 overs, 2 maidens, 3 wickets for 3 runs! The numbers in itself speak volumes about the way Scorchers dominated the business end of the popular T20 League. 9. Caribbean Premier League – Trinbago Knight Riders Trinbago Knight Riders lift the CPL 2017 title. (Photo by Randy Brooks – CPL T20 via Getty Images) Right from the very beginning, the Trinbago Knight Riders dictated terms in the Caribbean Premier League. They boasted of big names like Dwayne Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Dan Christian, Hashim Amla, Colin Munro, and Sunil Narine in their camp. They finished the league stages in a commanding position by topping the charts with 8 wins in 10 matches. However, they were dented by the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Qualifier 1. A nail biting match was on the cards in the finals between the same sides. Chasing a modest 136 to win, Knight Riders were restricted to 90/7. Kevon Cooper’s final flourish of unbeaten 29 off balls helped the TKR win their second CPL title. 10. CSA T20 Challenge – Titans (Photo Source: Twitter) The Titans continued their dominating run in the South African T20 league. They did not lose a single match in the first 8 games they played in the CSA T20 Challenge this year. The tournament was set to be replaced by T20 Global League. The financial restrictions forced the CSA to continue with their existing setup. All the Titans wins in the tournament were emphatic ones – 8 wickets win over the Lions, 61 runs win over the Warriors, and so on. In the semis, they continued their merry run and romped to the finals by beating the Warriors by 8 wickets. In the finals, it was Chris Morris’ four-fer that restricted the Dolphins to just 100. In the chase, AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock made short work of the chase to win the match by 7 wickets in 11.1 overs.

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The Best of 2017: T20 League wise Best teams

From the Indian Premier League to the Karnataka Premier League, the list features all the top teams.

7. NatWest T20 Blast – Nottinghamshire

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