Final at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

Six weeks of non stop action, sixes galore, wickets a plenty, some fiery spells of fast bowling, spin magicians wielding their wands, a few breathtaking innings and now we are at the most important day of the season. It is “The” day and the crown is waiting for the champion to appear.

The way the pitch at DY Patil has played in the last couple of matches will be a slight concern for the teams as well the organizers. There is a bit too much in it for the bowlers. It surely isn’t a bat first and score 82 runs pitch as Deccan did yesterday but it isn’t a 170-180 runs surface either. The strip which was used in the first semi final between Mumbai and Bangalore is likely to be used and might be a little better.

DY Patil Stadium – Ground Stats

Mumbai would have started clear favourites had it not been for Sachin’s split finger webbing. He is in doubt but his team would want him to play even if he can just manage to hold the bat. His mere presence on the field would be a positive influence and a confidence booster for the youngsters in the team. Chennai who have played sensational cricket in the last two matches may not admit but must be more assured within if Sachin doesn’t play.

Bowling had been a big weakness for the Super Kings but since Bollinger’s arrival they have looked a different bowling unit. Him and Ashwin have stifled openers as well as taken some crucial wickets. Murali’s good spell in the last match would have come as a big relief for Dhoni. The local fast bowlers have been a big disappointment for them so Chennai are likely to field three front line spinners yet again. Opening is still a worry for them as Matthew Hayden has looked awfully out of touch and Murali Vijay who has shown signs of brilliance has been inconsistent. If the openers and captain MS Dhoni fall early, Super Kings may find themselves in a situation that Deccan Chargers were in yesterday.

Mumbai are a very formidable side but will lose that magic zing about them if Sachin doesn’t play the final. Minus Sachin they may be a little low on strength but will still start slight favourites. Duminy, Tiwary, Rayudu and Pollard have all been in good form. If Sachin doesn’t play and the pitch is dry, Fernando may also not play and then Jayasuriya and Ali Murtaza will be the likely inclusions. Tendulkar and the team management will have to have their thinking caps on as Jayasuriya and Murtaza are both slow left arm bowlers and Chennai have many left handed batsmen. Mumbai have preferred to bat first and defend totals in this tournament and on this pitch they would want to do it even more so. Malinga and Zaheer have got initial breakthroughs and have been superb at the death. Pollard has also bowled pretty well apart from his match turning cameos down the order. Harbhajan may open the bowling, especially with Hayden at the top struggling very badly.

Mohit Goyal
Intern
R.N.T. Medical College, Udaipur
dr.mohitgoyal@gmail.com
www.goyalmohit.blogspot.com

Making the picture clearer

Unless the middle of the table teams falter big time against Mumbai and Punjab, this year many teams are likely to end at 14 points and net run rate will then be deciding their fates. Leaving aside Mumbai, Bangalore have the best net run rate and Deccan have the worst. With 10 points thus far and three games to go, Deccan will practically be out of contention if they lose even one. Chennai, Rajasthan and Kolkata on the other hand will be hoping that they do.

Bangalore need two wins in three games to land safely into the semis. One in three would do for them but they surely wouldn’t want it to come down to net run rate. The two matches played at Nagpur haven’t been been high scoring but there was little evidence to blame it on the pitch. It seemed to offer slight advantage to the bowlers who took the pace off the ball. This and Praveen Kumar continually leaking runs may prompt Kumble to bring in left arm spinner KP Appanna. Inclusion of Apanna may just mean S Sriram making way for Manish Pandey. Sriram had looked in good touch with the bat against Kolkata and can also chip in with a couple of crucial overs of left arm spin if a regular bowler goes for runs. It would be a good idea to go in with both Appana and Sriram as Deccan have only one left handed batsman in Adam Gilchrist. Bangalore’s bowling has been off and on but their batters have clicked consistently. Being batting heavy and with not too much to read into the Nagpur pitch, they may want to win the toss and bowl first.

Deccan’s batting has clicked in the last couple of matches and their bowlers too had a tremendous outing against Chennai. But their bowlers have lacked consistency and the team would be wary of it. They are likely to field an unchanged team, with Monish Mishra certain to escape an axe courtesy his 21 runs against Chennai and Bodapati Sumanth who didn’t get to bat on his debut also expected to play. Gilchrist would want his bowlers to knock down a couple early and force stroke players like Uthappa and Taylor into playing in a way that they don’t naturally do. Suman, Symonds and Rohit Sharma have all played a couple of good innings but Deccan would want Gilchrist to fire and push the run rate.

Dr. Mohit Goyal
www.goyalmohit.blogspot.com

Aussies to aid the struggle in the middle

Chennai managed to beat Bangalore after a string of losses while Rajasthan’s four match winning streak came to a halt when they were pumped by the Daredevils. Momentum is on Chennai’s side and arrival of Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger will add reliability and teeth to their line up. For Rajasthan, Shane Watson is back and even if he is Jet lagged and doesn’t play, he can provide valuable insights on Hussey and Bollinger’s weaknesses.

Hussey and Bollinger are likely to move into Chennai’s playing eleven straight away. Abie Morkel hasn’t been able to turn games with the bat and has been very expensive with the ball. Thushara has done a reasonably good job in the two matches he has played but Bollinger is a lot quicker and can bowl some good yorkers in the death overs. Chennai would dearly want Hayden to start firing now as nobody can push the run rate continually like him.

If Watson isn’t under-rested, Rajasthan would want to play him as he lends balance with his ability to open the innings and can bowl decent four overs. Shaun Tait was the most expensive bowler in the match against Delhi but he has the ability to take wickets and get in some unplayable yorkers. Yusuf Pathan didn’t have time to play himself in against Delhi and Warne must look to sending him in at 4 or 5. Rajasthan would want to win the toss and bat first. With it being a day match and the sun beating down in Chennai, the pitch is certain to favor the team that bowls second more.

After three consecutive wins against Chennai, Punjab and Delhi, Deccan’s charge has received a rude shock with three consecutive losses to Rajasthan, Mumbai and Kolkata. Symonds, Gibbs and Rohit have all played some good small innings but these losses have highlighted how highly they rely on Gilchrist. Gibbs and Symonds scored 50 and 45 respectively in the last match, but strike rates of 111 and 121 were never going to be enough to chase down 182. Ryan Harris has arrived and that must be a big relief for the Deccan camp. He has more pace than Vaas and is much more accurate than Roach. Suman and Venugopal Rao haven’t done anything of substance this year but Deccan don’t have replacements either.

Mumbai have been simply splendid this year. Zaheer, Malinga and Harbhajan have all been bowling consistently well. Sachin has been in sublime form and Dhawan, Tiwary, Rayudu and Sathish have all supported him well. They are practically into the semis and Sachin would like to try out options at hand before they enter the knock out stages. Ryan McLaren has got many chances but has failed to impress. Dhawal Kularni if fit or Ali Murtaza may get a look in. They may also play JP Duminy or Graham Napier to find out what kind of nick they are in.
Deccan would want to bowl first and get their weaker half out of the way. Also, bowling first Harris and co. might get a little swing and bounce at Brabourne.

Dr. Mohit Goyal
www.twitter.com/drmohitgoyal

Turning the tide

While Kings XI Punjab are still to do something substantive in the tournament, Bangalore have suffered a halt in the momentum with defeats in the last two games. Punjab have all the talent in the world but its the form and the hunger that seem to be lacking. Bangalore need a win now to keep things on track or they will suddenly find themselves in the lower middle of the points table. The result of the match will depend a lot on which team shows more hunger to win.

Punjab had clawed back into the match very nicely against Mumbai but it seemed to be the lack of belief that let them down. Vikramjeet Malik might have taken a lot of wickets in the plate division of the Ranji Trophy but he has some work to do before he can succeed at this level. One of Sodhi or Powar should replace him but Sangakkara may be deterred with the bounce on offer at Mohali. Karan Goel has failed to impress and may make way for Kaif or Tanmay Srivastava. Juan Theron bowled splendidly in the two matches he played but the lack of quality Indian batsmen hasn’t allowed the team to free a foreign player spot for him. Punjab should look to bowl first, hope that Brett Lee strikes, restrict Bangalore below 160 and then target chasing down the total by the 19th over.

Bangalore were doing well in the match against Chennai but the loss of momentum during overs 11 to 15 while batting and then two no balls by Vinay Kumar in the 19th over of the Chennai innings cost them the match. Praveen Kumar has been very expensive in the last two matches and must sit out to get his hunger going again. Abhimanyu Mithun had a superb domestic season, playing a big role in Karnataka’s march to the Ranji Trophy final and can be entrusted upon to do the job for Bangalore. The lack of batting all rounders comes to haunt Bangalore time and again and is likely to be an issue if even one of the five regular bowlers goes for runs in the initial overs. Ross Taylor if not too Jet lagged should replace Kevin Pietersen who is a bit lower on the reliability quotient than Cameron White. Bangalore bowlers will enjoy the bounce at Mohali and will look to test the subcontinental batsmen in the Punjab line up with some short stuff.
Dr. Mohit Goyal
www.goyalmohit.blogspot.com

Trying to break into the top half

Deccan and Kolkata are currently at sixth and seventh positions in the points table. The team that wins may just move into the top half at the expense of Rajasthan Royals. Deccan after winning three on the trot against Chennai, Punjab and Delhi were drubbed in the last two matches by Rajasthan and Mumbai. Before all that, they had lost their opening match to Kolkata and would want to make amends. Kolkata on the other hand have been downhill after starting the tournament with a bang.

Kolkata have been doing some inexplicable chopping and changing, replacing Murali Kartik who had been in splendid form by Iqbal Abdulla. Ganguly’s love for the young blood continues with opportunities being given to the under-19 hitter Mandeep Singh, but he doesn’t seem to be mature enough as of now. Ishant Sharma was half way down the middle to bat after Langeveldt was bowled out on the last ball of the 20th over, it speaks a lot about his focus. He is a fantastic talent but must sit out for now and be given the right guidance, motivation and confidence. Kolkata must look at playing both Kartik and Abdulla along with Langeveldt and one of Dinda, Agarkar or Vignesh. Mathews, Gayle, Ganguly and Hussey can all roll their arms over. They could also bring in Laxmi Ratan Shukla to replace Ishant and give depth to their batting. Hard hitting Harshad Khadiwale must be the choice in place of Mandeep Singh. Winning the toss and batting first will be vital to Kolkata’s plans of staging a comeback.

Deccan are lacking badly in bowling with nobody apart from Chaminda Vaas contributing consistently. Vaas too was taken for runs against Rajasthan and made way for the express Kemar Roach in the last match. Jaskaran Singh although expensive but looked good in the last match and must be persisted with. RP Singh too bowled well against Mumbai, grabbing 3 for 31 compared to his season’s six wickets at an economy of 9.60 per over. Deccan’s batting depends heavily on Gilchrist and their team would be looking up to him to provide the impetus to get their campaign back on track. VVS Laxman is too classy a player to be left out and must replace Monish Mishra. Laxman will be able to play his natural game and rotate the strike once the big hitters around him get going. He has had to hit unnecessary shots across the line as Gilchrist hasn’t quite fired this season.

Dr. Mohit Goyal
www.goyalmohit.blogspot.com

Visitors start favorites

For a team that reached semi finals in both the previous editions of the IPL, Chennai have a poor 2-4 win-loss record against Bangalore. They have had a tough time this season with Matthew Hayden not coming into his own as yet and Dhoni missing a few games with injury. Bangalore on the other hand have done well but must guard against complacency, as they are barely half way through.

Chennai rely heavily on Hayden, Dhoni, Murali and Albie Morkel. Raina has done well but hasn’t been able to make a telling single handed impact. Thushara and Jakati did well in the last match and are likely to be retained. The spot for an Indian pacer is an area of concern and we may witness the game of musical chairs being continued. Joginder Sharma is likely to vacate that spot for Sudeep Tyagi, who must then be persisted with. Badrinath has been too slow in the chances he has got and Arun Karthik looked like an amateur in the last match.

Chennai would want to bat first, score heavy and then let the slower bowlers like Murali and Jakati come into play. If they can win this game they will remain in the hunt and are likely to get a major boost with Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger joining them in a couple of days.

Bangalore were on a four match winning streak when their juggernaut was haulted in the last match by Delhi. Eoin Morgan has failed to make any use of the chances he has got and is likely to make way for one of Kevin Pietersen and Cameron White. Steyn and Praveen Kumar went for big runs in the last match but their exploits in the previous matches will keep their places safe. Its a day match and with the sun beating down hard, Bangalore too would want to win the toss and bat first.

Delhi have been on a roller coaster this season but look more confident with the return of their skipper Gambhir after a long injury break. Dirk Nannes injured a finger trying to stop a shot from the Kolkata keeper Saha and may miss the next few matches. Nannes and Mishra have by far been the two top performers with the ball for Delhi. Farveez Mahroof may take Nannes’ place while Andrew McDonald who went for a lot of runs and Rajat Bhatia may be replaced by AB de Villiers and Pradeep Sangwan or Ashish Nehra.

Rajasthan look settled and aren’t likely to make many changes. They may look at replacing Sumit Narwal who was expensive in the last match by either Munaf Patel or Amit Uniyal or even Kamran Khan. The Royals interestingly haven’t ever lost defending a score of 150 or more. The pitch at Kotla isn’t the best T20 pitch in the world and the side winning the toss would want to make first use of it. Rajasthan would dearly want to bat first otherwise a blinder from either Sehwag or Warner could straight away kill their chances on the Delhi strip.

Dr. Mohit Goyal
www.goyalmohit.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/drmohitgoyal

Rajasthan’s BIG chance and Kings XI Punjab quest to defend the castle
IPL Day 2 Preview

Rajasthan may look the weakest side in the league this year but they have a great chance of kicking off with an away win. Mumbai are short of full strength with the Caribbean duo of Bravo and Pollard yet to arrive. Duminy and Dilhara Fernando haven’t been declared fit as yet after suffering from split webbing and back strain respectively. Jayasuriya also hasn’t been in the best of form, thus providing a golden opportunity for the team from the desert state.
On the other hand, with Smith and Warne’s huge experience and rich form of Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel, Rajasthan are poised to spring a surprise. But the lack of any other experienced local batsmen could hurt the team real bad.
For Mumbai, Graham Napier and Sachin Tendulkar are the in-form batsmen. Abhishek Nayar too has been doing well. It would be interesting to see if and in whom can they find the answer to their middle order woes. It could be well be the ICL returnees Ambati Rayudu and Rajagopal Sathish.
Both the teams have good bowling attacks with Mumbai holding the edge on grounds of international experience. Battle between Tendulkar and Warne is on what this game has been built up to but Tait v Tendulkar-Jayasuriya, Zaheer v Smith and Harbhajan v Pathan are the more likely contests. Another thing which will draw interest is if Kamran Khan plays. And if he does, what tweaks have been done to his action after being reported for a faulty one last year.

Although in the Kings’ den, Daredevils will start firm favourites at Mohali. Brett Lee is off to Dubai for treatment and with Yuvraj also a doubtful starter, Sangakkara has his plate full. He would want a big knock from compatriot Mahela Jayawardene and contributions from all-rounders like Piyush Chawla and Reetinder Sodhi. Kaif’s inclusion will lend solidity to the middle order and if Sreesanth and co. can knock off Sehwag and a couple others early, the 11 Kings could come out victors.
Delhi have an intimidating top order embedded with jewels in Sehwag, Gambhir and Dilshan. AB de Villiers and  Dinesh Karthik lead a formidable middle order and Warner’s inclusion could spell death for bowlers on the other side. They also have good all-rounders in Rajat Bhatia and Moises Henriques but are rely too heavily on Dirk Nannes to provide the impetus.
Mohali could throw up a real run feast.

Dr. Mohit Goyal
www.goyalmohit.blogspot.com

Indian premier League 2009

Match Preview – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings at St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth

The last series between India and England was tipped as a tussle between MSD and KP, the supposedly best captains in world cricket. Kevin Pietersen must surely have felt hard done, with mediocre resources as compared to Dhoni’s armor. This might be his chance to have a say and press his case and also hit the English Cricket Board below the belt.

We have the bat

Royal Challengers look the strongest batting side in the competition, at least on the paper. Jesse Ryder can be devastating on his day, while Ross Taylor would like to make amends for his stupid walk towards the off side in the first match which enabled Dmitri Mascarenhas to dislodge his leg stump.

Chennai have firepower with Hayden, Raina, Dhoni and Morkel but Flintoff has been below par with the bat in last few years. Also, there is a question mark over the abilities of Parthiv, Badrinath and Joginder on these bouncy pitches.

We have the ball

Dale Steyn and Anil Kumble are top notch performers but Praveen Kumar would require help from the pitch and conditions to be as effective as he was in the first match. Akhil and Vinay Kumar weren’t tested in the first match. If the pitch has something in it for the bowlers, Challengers may look to play Kallis in place of Ryder and bring in a batter in place of Akhil.

Chennai’s spin department will be bolstered by the likely inclusion Muttiah Muralitharan in place of Thushara. Albie Morkel in place of Jacob Oram will beef up the batting but bring down pace battery’s reliability.

Patrolling Party

While Chennai were not up to the mark in their first match, Bangalore were just exhilarating on the field and Virat Kohli was sensational. Uthappa surprisingly did a splendid job behind the wickets and looked at ease keeping to Kumble (extremely rare to find such keepers). Chennai will have a superb athlete in the outfield with the inclusion of Albie but over all they will need to tighten up a bit.

High on betting meter

Chennai are high on most betting meters but this result of this match may reverse the odds when these two teams meet the next time.

 Who gets the tick?

This match will be a battle between Bangalore’s top order and Gony, Flintoff and Murali’s bowling. Whether Bangalore get off to a quick start or Chennai restrict them and pick quick wickets, is likely to decide the outcome of this match.
Editorial © 2009 iplcricketforum.com

dr.mohitgoyal@gmail.com
www.goyalmohit.blogspot.com

Asia Cup 2008, Super Four, Match 3

Monday, 30^th June 2008

Sri Lanka v Bangladesh

Back to back 50 over matches isn’t something that players like but it’s a side effect of the run for big money that creates a heavily packed calendar. But Sri Lanka still would like not to relent and field their best side today to seal a final berth. They have been the winners thrice and runners up five times in the previous eight editions of the tournament and in all likeliness will keep the trend going.

Bangladesh would look to give in a spirited performance like they did batting against India. They may have a window of opportunity should the Lankans decide to rest a few key players.

Look out For

Kumar Sangakkara – He comes across as a greedy batsman. He doesn’t leave any opportunity to score runs and will be looking to compile another big score against the slightly weaker test playing nation, Bangladesh.

Sanath Jayasuriya – He turns thirty nine today and would be looking to celebrate with a big innings and a big win which would take Sri Lanka into the finals of the Asia Cup.

Mohammad Ashraful – He will have to play a big innings if Bangladesh are to have any chance of beating Sri Lanka. He is batsman with natural flair and can score quickly.

Alok Kapali – He batted wonderfully well in the match against India. He also bowls loopy leg spinners which could be difficult to handle if Bangladesh bowl second.

Probable starters:

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (WK), Mahela Jayawardene (C), Tillakratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Thilan Thushara, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralidharan, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara.

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Ashraful (C), Raqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Alok Kapali, Mahmudullah, Farhad Reza, Shahadat Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak

Verdict:  Bangladesh’s only chance to get a win here would be to bat first and score in excess of 275 runs. Even then their bowling might be found wanting. If one of Jayasuriya and Sangakkara get going, they are dead and buried.

What do you say?

Dr. Mohit Goyal © IPL Cricket Forum
http://www.goyalmohit.blogspot.com/

Editorial: Mohit Goyal

Indian Premier League (IPL) Match Preview – The Grand Finale

The Armies – Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings

Rajasthan Royals made brief work of it with an emphatic 105 run win over the Delhi Daredevils on Friday. Chennai Super Kings, the firm non-favorites beat Kings XI Punjab by 9
wickets with overs to spare.

The Battleground – DY Patil Cricket Stadium, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai

While the pitch at Wankhede had help for spinners, the pitch at this ground has more pace and bounce. Rajasthan bowlers have bowled well on most pitches. Chennai with Ntini, Morkel and Gony will be happier to play on this sort of pitch and absence of Graeme Smith on this sort of pitch will be a factor. Rajasthan have played a match at this ground. Although they were shot out here by Mumbai but Warne would surely have picked a point or two.

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