It will be the Rajasthan Royals taking on the Delhi DareDevils and Kings XI Punjab against the Chennai SuperKings in the Indian Premier League 2008 Semi-Finals.
Two classic clashes which hold promise for enough drama, action and fireworks plus exciting cricket to entertain the millions of 20Twenty Cricket lovers worldwide.
All the four Semi-finals spots have now been decided with Deccan once again losing a game in front of their home crowd to Chennai Super Kings and their home jinx continued to haunt them this evening too. They didn’t put enough runs on the board and it was always going to be tough for their under par bowling department to pull off something special. Chennai didn’t get off to the best of starts but Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni stayed there for quite sometime and steered their side to a rather comfortable victory.
The slim chance which Mumbai Indians had disappeared today with Chennai’s win. Basically Mumbai colud not hold on to their nerves in the last three matches - otherwise there was enough promise for them to reach the semi finals. And also Virender Sehwag will definitely sleep well tonight after a week of wait and watch other teams slog it out to decide their fate in the semis.
It’s the last league game for both these teams. Hyderabad are languishing at the bottom of the table and this is their last chance to win a game at home. For Chennai, this is an extremely important game. A victory here and they will progress to the next round. Though Chennai start as favourites, they haven’t been in the best of form of late: A shock defeat at the hands of Bangalore, when they failed to chase a meagre 127 was followed by a 10-run defeat against Rajasthan.
What if Chennai lose today? If Chennai lose today and Mumbai win tomorrow, Mumbai will advance on account of better net run rate. (Chennai’s current NRR is -0.241 while Mumbai’s is +0.531). Should Mumbai lose tomorrow, Chennai will go through to the semis(Chennai are on 14 points, Mumbai are on 12)
Shaun Marsh continued his batting blitzkrieg with his forth Man of the Match - award in the Indian Premier League, hitting 60 in the Kings XI Punjab’s win over Deccan Chargers.
Marsh scored his fifth half-century in a totoal of eight games with three fours and three sixes before getting caught with a half-hearted hit off Herschelle Gibbs at long-on.
Kings XI Punjab made 4-178 with three balls to spare chasing Deccan’s impressive total of 4-175 at the Punjab’s Mohali ground.
Punjab have sealed a place in the semis with rain washing out the match between Delhi and Kolkata. They will like to keep the winning form going running in to the knock out stages. The pre tournament favorites Deccan are out of contention but will like to prove a point and finish on a high note to give their fans something to look out for in the next season.
Men at the Helm
Yuvi and Gilly both have led their sides very well but the difference has been that while Yuvi’s boys have been excellent, Gilly’s men have simply been dismal.
We have the bat
Punjab batters are in superb form. The only concern for Punjab is the relative lack of form for Yuvraj Singh. Deccan meanwhile have been improving. The big stars didn’t fire in the last few matches but others took the centre. Actually its been the bowlers who have let them down in the last few matches.
We have the ball
In the bowling department Punjab look one up with Pathan being consistent through out the league and Sreesanth running into some serious form. Charger RP Singh might be amongst the leading wicket takers but his tally is very misleading because he has given too many runs for those wickets and very few of them are top order batsmen.
Patrolling Party
Punjab dropped a few catches in their last match against Mumbai but effected some pretty good run outs. They have had some off days but have generally fielded well. Deccan on the other hand have at the most been patchy. They need to field well today to pep up their bowlers.
High on betting meter
Punjab are sitting high on most betting meters with offerings of 4 on 7 while Deccan give 11 on 8.
Who gets the tick?
Punjab start as favorites for this match but one can never count out a team like Deccan. They have players who can make a day their own.
It’s just an interesting observation. There is fair chance that four teams behind Rajasthan Royals might all be stuck on 16 points after the end of the league round of the Indian premier league.
There is a pretty decent possibility of this happening. Just have a look at how the things could roll and lead to such a situation.
Delhi Daredevils have 12 points with 2 matches remaining. One is against Mumbai and the other against Kolkata. They have a pretty good chance of winning against Kolkata and if one of Sehwag and Gambhir plays a big innings and the bowlers bowl according to reputation they can beat Mumbai too. This will get them on 16 points at the end of the league.
Chennai have 14 points with 3 of their matches remaining against Bangalore, Rajasthan and Deccan. Rajasthan are a strong side and Deccan beat Chennai pretty convincingly in the last match between these two. If Chennai wins 1 of their remaining matches they would be on 16 points as well.
Mumbai are on 12 points with 4 matches remaining against Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan and Bangalore. As we said earlier, Delhi must defeat Mumbai and Rajasthan are well capable of doing that as well. Mumbai are too good a team to loose too many matches and thus they could win against Punjab and Bangalore, giving them 16 points too.
Now this is the toughest part. Punjab have 14 points with 4 games to play. They will play against Mumbai, Deccan, Kolkata and Rajasthan. As we said, Mumbai have to defeat them and Rajasthan can beat them too. Deccan is a very good team. Although too late, but they seem to be coming into rhythm and would definitely like to prove a point. So if Punjab manage to beat only one of the four teams they are to play they are to going to finish on 16 points.
Now it is very difficult to predict which teams will get through on the basis of net run rate. But taking into account the results of the matches that these teams played with those who they are to play, a prediction can be made.
Unless there is a huge victory for any of the teams Chennai are the most likely to go out because they have very poor net run rate and loosing 2 of their remaining 3 matches wouldn’t help either.
Still, the margins of victories will have a huge bearing on the outcome and Bangalore and Deccan could turn out King makers and dream breakers in the scenario.
