CCL 2023 points table: Can Kiccha Sudeep & co. get past Akhil Akkineni's Telugu Warriors in semis?

Day #8 of the Celebrity Cricket League delivered on the exact promise of some exciting action with four teams battling it out in Jodhpur. Three of the four teams, namely the Telugu Warriors, Chennai Rhinos and Mumbai Heroes, had a lot at stake as they each held a chance to qualify for the semifinals with a win with a loss, on other hand, diminishing their chances. The Net Run Rate, too, came into play with both Warriors and Heroes stuck at 4 points and had both teams lost their respective games, it would have come down to the NRR.

Bengal Tigers, the fourth team in the Day #8 mix, was already out of contention due to their three back-to-back losses. The Jisshu Sengupta-led team still boasted a chance of causing a massive upset and the Tigers looked keen on doing just that against Mumbai Heroes. 

The Heroes, however, managed to overcome the challenge and defeated the Bengal Tigers by 16 runs to secure their third straight win of the league stage. They finish third on the points table with 6 points and will now face the mighty Bhojpuri Dabanggs in the semis, which is to be played in Hyderabad on March 18th. 

The Dabanggs, on the back of some quality cricket, have won all four of their games and are placed second on the table, with the Karnataka Bulldozers edging them out through a better net run rate.

The Telugu Warriors, on the other hand, almost slumped into the bottom half of the points table to forego a chance of playing in the semifinals. Having opened the tournament with two blistering wins, the Warriors were humbled in their final two contests, including the most recent one against Chennai Rhinos. 

The Rhinos secured two wins eventually, which gave them a fair chance to make the final cut but with NRR again coming into the picture, they required Mumbai Heroes to suffer a defeat. The Heroes, unfortunately, did just the opposite.

So, despite a thumping win over the Telugu Warriors, the Chennai Rhinos finished fifth on the league-stage table which, in turn, allowed the Warriors to scrape through to the semis. The Warriors finished higher because of their NRR, though both teams have won two games each.

The pre-finale stage is set with Kiccha Sudeep, Pradeep Bogadi, Golden Star Ganesh and Co. playing the first semifinal in Hyderabad on March 18th. Their opponents would be the Telugu Warriors, starring Akhil Akkineni, S.S. Thaman and others, and one can certainly expect the latter to rise to the occasion and cause a massive upset. The Bulldozers, however, look in no mood to stop in their tracks just yet.

Mumbai Heroes, featuring Ritesh Deshmukh, Saqib Saleem, Shabir Ahluwalia, Sharad Kelkar and others, will face the Bhojpuri Dabanggs the same evening, in the second semifinal of CCL 2023. Are you looking forward to a Bulldozers v/s Dabanggs final?