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.
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.
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.
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.
Indian Premier League Match Preview – Semi final 1
Rajasthan Royals Vs Delhi Daredevils
Semi final 1 is to be played between the teams which stood at the first and the fourth position in the league.
The Armies – Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils
Rajasthan Royals with 22 points stood at the top of the league winning 10 of their 14 matches and winning all 7 they played at their home ground, Jaipur.
Delhi Daredevils qualified by grabbing the fourth and the last spot. They were victorious in 7 matches while one was washed by rain. They ended on 15 points.
The Battleground – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
The pitch here is the one that seems most likely to help the spin bowlers. The run scoring can be controlled in the middle overs if the spinners have a good day.
Knock out time
The stage is all set and the performers are raring to go. Its knock out time and the Daredevils have made the cut. This is a team, most would have liked to avoid in a knock out situation. But Shane Keith Warne would probably be the last man on earth to be thinking about it.
The spin wizard from Victoria leads his men, the pre-tournament underdogs as the favorites now to win the inaugural Indian Premier League.
Jab we met
When these teams first met in Delhi, it was the first match in the league for both. Delhi then, bowled out Rajasthan for a meager total of 109 and then got home pretty quickly.
In the next tie at Jaipur, Rajasthan managed to beat Delhi comfortably. The clash has adrenaline flowing high with Sehwag getting charged up in the field and Royals management lodging a complaint against him.
Leading from the front
Both Viru and Warny have led by example. Both have had a good tournament personally and that’s been a reason why things have sailed smoothly for them.
The clash between these two too promises to be a high voltage affair. Watch out for a run out that is not referred to the third umpire.
Left Right Right
Left-Right seems to be right for both the sides. With southpaws Smith and Gambhir opening the innings with Asnodkar and Sehwag respectively there is lot for bowlers to work out. Smith and Asnodkar have been rotating the strike with consistency and this has given many a bowlers some headache. Gambhir is very swift between the wickets and Sehwag more often than not has responded to his calls.
Sub continental Curry
Royal Tanveer and Daredevil Maharoof have been successfully tried as pinch hitters by their captains. It will be interesting to see if this has a bearing on the game.
There and there about
Glen Mc Grath seems to wake up from sleep and still be able to bowl that nagging line and length in and around the corridor of uncertainty.
Munaf Patel sees Mc Grath as his idol and has emulated him pretty well in this league. The change in his attitude and body language has been refreshing to watch.
Firing them or not firing them in
Sohail Tanveer has been an absolute revelation in the tournament. He has bowled with immense control. He’s bowled good bouncers, fired in yorkers and got the slower one going. He’s even managed to find yorker length with slower ball consistently.
Maharoof too has slipped in some useful bouncers and been in the channel outside the off stump. He too would be looking to use the slower one to good effect.
Spinning it square
Wankhede is one venue in the league where spinners would get the most purchase. If they can bowl well they will play a huge role. And if bowling well is required, one man who does it on any pitch is Shane Warne. This pitch will suit him and he could run away with the match if fast bowlers get a couple of early wickets.
Sehwag would look to use Amit Mishra to lure batsmen into big shots and then pulling the trap. He should be looking to use Dilshan and rolling his own arm over too.
Keeping it safe
Dinesh Karthik and Mahesh Rawat have done a good job behind the stumps. For Rajasthan, Akmal is unlikely to play because of restriction on the number of foreign players that can take the field. Dinesh Karthik would be looking to contribute with the bat too. He won Delhi their match against Mumbai.
Mother of all clashes, this could well be the dress rehearsal for the finals of the inaugural Indian Premier League and both sides would be looking to score points over the other.
Men at the Helm
Yuvi and Warny both have been inspirational. Yuvi hasn’t performed as well himself but he has a great influence on the younger players. The way he has handled Sreesanth and Chawla and encouraged Marsh and VRV has been phenomenal. Warny has been Midas for the team. Both have handled pressure like only few can in the world.
We have the bat
On paper, Punjab may look a better batting side but apart from Marsh and Sangakkara, others havn’t had many big scores. On other hand for Rajasthan, Smith, Asnodkar, Watson and Pathan have consistently made good scores.
We have the ball
If Punjab have Sreesanth, Pathan and Chawla superb form, Rajasthan have the bowler of the tournament thus far, Sohail Tanveer and the spinner of the tournament, Shane Warne in their ranks. Munaf, Siddharth and Watson too have hit the right line and lengths more often than not. Yusuf Pathan has come in real handy as well.
Patrolling Party
Rajasthan have been very good in the field, while Punjab have had a few poor fielding games. Both will want to eliminate lapses in fielding to give their bowlers an edge over the opponents.
High on betting meter
Rajasthan are slightly high on certain betting meters owing to their better record, while the teams are at level on others.
Who gets the tick?
Rajasthan are on a roll and it will take either an outrageously superb spell of bowling from Sreesanth or Pathan or a lapse on the part of Rajasthan batsmen to make Punjab victorious.
