Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians at Bangalore
This match was initially scheduled to be played on the 10th of May but due to polling in Karnataka, it had to be rescheduled. Now, both teams are out of contention for the semi finals but a match between the teams owned by the power man Mukesh Ambani and the liquor baron Vijay Mallya can not be short of fireworks.
Men at the Helm
Rahul aka Jammy has shown some superb resolve throughout the tournament and has shown what he is capable of at the few instances when his team mates have contributed a little. Sachin on the other hand has seemed short of strategy and innovativeness or may be he has prepared a lot of strategy and predetermined the moves and has thus been predictable.
We have the bat
Mumbai are a much stronger batting side than Bangalore but even Bangalore have shown some encouraging signs and their batsmen definitely have the class to come up with the goods. Watch out for Dravid, Kallis, Misbah and White.
We have the ball
Mumbai have Pollock in very good form but departure of Bravo has hit them badly. Others have been patchy at best. They must look to play Nel in place of Fernando. Bangalore have been quite good and Dale Steyn’s pace and accuracy gives them a definite edge over the other teams.
Patrolling Party
Bangalore have had odd off days, otherwise they have fielded pretty well. Virat Kohli and Cameroon White have been exceptional. Mumbai on the other hand been ordinary, spilling some pretty important chances.
High on betting meter
Mumbai are slightly higher on the betting meter courtesy their greater all round strength.
Who gets the tick?
Mumbai depend heavily on Jayasuriya for a big score and Pollock for early wickets. If Bangalore can take care of these two they can bag in one more win.
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.
Indians will have to win this match this match to keep their semi final chances under their own control. Else they will need Deccan who are not in that good a form to beat Chennai. Royals on the other hand would not want this dangerous Mumbai side to advance and would definitely like to make like difficult for them by beating them here.
Men at the Helm
Shane Warne has been simply superb throughout the league and everything he’s touched has turned gold. He would to be looking to try out a few combinations before the knock out stages start. Sachin on the other hand has been calm and cool but not been as sharp and quick as required for such a fast paced game. He mismanaged the distribution of overs in the match against Punjab and the team selection too has lacked thought. He has banked too much on the opponents’ weaknesses rather than his team’s strength.
Shah Rukh has sent a SMS to his team saying that he would boycott the remaining matches of the IPL till the League clarified the code of conduct and cricketing authorities.
King Khan cannot digest the fact that ICC anti-corruption department has objected his proximity to his own players. He said that he finds it really ridiculous that he would pay his players to loose when he have already paid so heavily for building a team for winning ! His main objection is to the fact that this action somewhat labels him as a bookie.
He also pointed out to the fact that while other owners are being allowed to mix freely with their team members - he has been singled out just due to his celebrity status. Earlier he had also expressed his unhappiness about the entertainment tax levied on his team by the West Bengal Government which is not applicable in any other states.
Meanwhile IPL governing body went out of its way to bend rules and issue special red passes to team owners allowing then fifteen minutes access to dressing rooms and dugout.
Perhaps what everyone is missing out the fact which probably raised concern among the icc anti-corruption is King Khans visit to the opponents teams (Chennai Superkings) dug out during the Kolkata match. This may not have been taken well by the ICC authorities and rightly so - Cricket does not follow the rules of Bollywood where everything can be scripted conveniently.
Also, the dismal performance of Kolkata Knight Riders must be adding fuel to King Khans frustration - but rules are rules - Cricket is a game of discipline and performance - emotions do not have much place here.
True we will loose out on the cheering performance of King Khan in the semis and the finals - but Virender Shewag, Gambhir, Sachin, Shaun Marsh, Yuvraj, MS Dhoni, Jayasiriya are no less real-life entertainers.
This is do or die match for Delhi. A win doesn’t gaurantee them a place in the semis but a defeat definitely puts them out of contention. Mubai will like to win this one otherwise they will need to win both of their last two matches, one of them being against Rajasthan Royals.
Men at the Helm
Sehwag has been operating smoothly throughout the competition while Sachin looked out of sorts in the last match against Mohali where he probably mismanaged the distribution of overs amongst the bowlers. Well, thats just one issue but Sachin has done pretty well otherwise and seems to be learning the nuances of this game quickly.
We have the bat
Both are very good batting line ups but Mumbai have a slight advantage over Delhi. Delhi rely heavily on Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhawan and need at least two of them to play well. Mumbai on the other hand have had contributions from Sachin, Sanath, Uthappa, Nayar and Pollock. They will definitely miss Dwayne Bravo as they did in the last match against Punjab.
We have the ball
Again Dwayne Bravo will be sorely missed by this department as well. Daredevils Mc Grath and Maharoof and Pollock and Nehra for Indians have been bowling well. Both the teams are likely to have problems with overs of the fourth and fifth bowlers and batsmen must wait to pounce on these.
Patrolling Party
Delhi are an excellent fielding unit and Mumbai’s fielding although good but will have to go few notches still higher to compete with Delhi.
High on betting meter
Mumbai are slightly higher on most betting meters while both are on level on others.
Who gets the tick?
Mumbai will look to win this one but will a blazing inning fron Sehwag or Gambhir pull this Delhi’s way?
