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.
PTI Reports from Chennai that M S Dhoni, who is nursing a finger injury, has been cleared to play but Parthiv Patel would do the keeping against Bangalore Royal Challengers on Wednesday.
Kepler Wessels coach of Chennai Super Kings said “Dhoni will play against the Bangalore team. He has been ruled fit but he will not keep the wickets.”
“Dhoni will definitely play but he may not keep. We are keeping options open and will assess his condition on Wednesday,” Wessels said.
Dhoni injured his finger during the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Though the Royal Challengers are considered a weaker team, Wessels said, “They are still a dangerous side and we will not take them lightly. They have nothing to lose, so that will make them more determined. Hence, we are not under-estimating them. We will assess the situation and announce the playing eleven.” Wessels also added that winning the remaining three games were important for them.
“We have three games left and they are all significant for us. We cannot be complacent,” he said.
Wessels does not believe that 20Twenty tournament is only for youngsters, he said - “It is all about fitness and agility and as long as you can perform, age does not come into the picture. Besides, the Challengers have some very good players,”
A Preview: Delhi DareDevils were in a desperate situation before today’s match against the Bangalore Royal Challengers. They had had 10 points off eleven matches, and with only three matches to play for them, an all win record from now on would take them to sixteen. Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, had 12 off ten, thus would need only two wins off their four matches to equal Delhi even if they win all! This only meant one thing, it was a must win situation for the DareDevils. At the other end of the spectrum, one had the Bangalore Royal Challengers sitting with four points for some time now, showing no urgency to move anywhere, but down the points table.
Spin of coin: Delhi DareDevils won the toss and elected to field first on a pitch that was supposed to play slower and lower as the game progressed. His reasoning would have been simple, it is easier to chase in a twenty over encounter when you have the target in sight, than actually setting one.
Compositions: There were about half a dozen changes made in all, to both the sides, which was a record of sorts. For the Delhi DareDevils, Amit Mishra was very surprisingly rested after a brilliant performance earlier and in came Yo Mahesh, where as Shoaib Malik made way for A.B. deVilliers. The Royal Challengers’ challenge had ended, and hence they decided to bring in some new players as well, Dale Steyn, Sreevats Goswami, B. Akhil and Bharat Chipli making it into the playing XI.
The Review: The biggest problem facing Bangalore Royal Challengers is their opening partnership, and hence it was no big surprise to see their eighth opening pair of the tournament walk out to face up the bowling, in the form of Jacques Kallis and Bharat Chipli. Chipli did not last long, but it was the second wicket partnership of Kallis and Under-19 ‘keeper and debutant, Sreevats Goswami that stabilized the innings. Kallis was dismissed by Farveez Maharoof and was soon followed by Dravid’s dismissal, but Sreevats duly completed his half century, making him the youngest in the tournament to do so. However, he soon departed in a bid to up the ante, and the Challengers lost wickets at regular interval to stutter to 130/7 in 19 overs. It was here that Misbah-ul-Haq bashed 24 runs off Rajat Bhatia to propel the Challengers’ score to 154/7 in the 20. McGrath was his miserly self with figures of 4-0-15-2, but Maharoof went one better, his four overs yielding only 13 runs for the two wickets.
Delhi’s reply was exactly as their team name suggests, ‘daredevilish’. It was Gautam Gambhir who continued his good form – to reach 500 runs in the tournament – but Sehwag quickly joined in the party and left his partner way behind. The powerplay – of six overs – went for 71 without a loss of any wickets, where as the next over went for 19, before Sehwag cut one straight to the point’s throat. Delhi was 90/1 at this stage in only 7 overs! It was only the wicket of Gambhir and the subsequent introduction of the spinners that stemmed the flow of scoring to such an extent, that the batsmen begun to feel the pressure and soon succumbed to it. Dilshan was stumped off Kumble, where as de Villiers edged one off Steyn. When Dinesh Karthik fell at the score of 132, the DareDevils still required 22 runs of 27 balls. They did stutter a bit, but in the end, reached their target with five wickets and 10 deliveries to spare.
The MoM: For a change, we had a played from the losing side win the Man-of-the-Match award, Sreevats Goswami winning it for his well crafted 50 along with three dismissals – a catch, stumping and a run-out!
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils at Bangalore
Bangalore and Deccan are out of the race for the throne but they could be the King makers now. Apart from Deccan, Bangalore also have matches left with Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai and they could well catch the leg of one of these teams to kill their semi final dreams.
Men at the Helm
Rahul Dravid hasn’t been able to do much because his batters have disappointed consistently. Sehwag has shown confidence in his boys but the incidents like arguing with umpires at Jaipur, the break in play at Delhi breaking Venu Gopal’s flow and delaying covering of pitch when rain set in against Punjab have left a sour taste in mouth. But as far as his team goes, he has led them well and been aggressive, instinctive and innovative.
We have the bat
On paper the Bangalore batting might be even a little higher than Delhi but apart from Dravid each and everyone has failed. They would like to salvage some pride. Delhi on the other hand would need one of, Sehwag and Gambhir to fire otherwise they might not have enough runs on the board.
We have the ball
Both are pretty good bowling units but Bangalore missed Steyn badly in the last match. His pace prevents oppositions to take the attack in the early overs. Batters on both sides will find it difficult to play with the same flow as they could have against other oppositions.
Patrolling Party
Delhi are the best fielding unit in the competition and they have proved it time and again. In the last match the fielders took some sensational catches and one could have gone just to watch the Daredevils field. Bangalore on the other hand have been patchy. While they have had some sensational catches been taken by Dravid, Kohli, Jaffer and Steyn, they have conceded many free runs in some matches.
High on betting meter
On most betting meters they are placed at the same level. Kolkata are marginally lower on a few owing to their vulnerable batting.
Who gets the tick?
Delhi have the upper hand but a good spell from Zaheer or Steyn up front could knock two or three and expose Delhi’s vulnerable middle order. Bangalore would like to give their home crowd something to cheer about and look forward to, for the next season.
The serial bomb blasts which rocked Jaipur, the base of the Rajasthan
Royals, killing about a 100 people and injuring much more hasn’t affected the Rajasthan Royals. Most of the players are currently holidaying in
Goa and the others have gone back to their respective homes.
There is a shadow over Saturday’s IPL match in the city between the Rajasthan
Royals and the Bangalore Royal Challengers. The match looks likely to
be shifted out of Jaipur, with Bangalore offering to host the game at
the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“We have said we could host Sunday’s game but it’s up to the IPL,” chief cricket officer Martin Crowe told Hindustan Times on Tuesday. “We’re waiting for (IPL commissioner) Lalit Modi to get
back to us. We’re going to Delhi on Wednesday and will stay there a bit
but would prefer to go back to Bangalore rather than proceed to Jaipur
under the current circumstances.”
However, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has promised extra security and ruled out a
change of schedule “as of now”. “We are concerned but the matches are
going to continue and we have full confidence in the state government,”
he told news channel NDTV. “We have no plans as of now to change
the schedule. We will provide them additional cover and make sure
everyone is protected.”
