The finalists of the IPL have been decided, but in this edition of the tournament, there will be a third place play-off game between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers, to decide which one of the sides join Mumbai and Chennai in the Champions League T20 later this year.
Both sides, Deccan and Bangalore had suffered rather one-sided losses in the semi-final and will need to pick themselves up before this important clash on Saturday. Given the manner in which they have played in the tournament so far, Bangalore go into the game as marginal favourites, but it is very evident that the side batting first will have a huge advantage going into the match.
Stan James offers 4/5 for a Bangalore win as compared to the Totesport offer of 6/5 if Deccan were to come third.
The Deccan Chargers will understand the gravity of the situation that their batting finds itself in. The top-order is just not firing and Adam Gilchrist’s (7/2 at Ladbrokes to top-score for Deccan) presence, almost invariably brings out a spinner to open the attack. With Herschelle Gibbs’ (4/1 at Blue Square to be the best batsman for his side) painful display at the crease yesterday is almost most certain to bring about his ouster, it could be left to the likes of Rohit Sharma (4/1 at Boylesports to be the best batsman for Deccan) to bat much more sensibly than he did in the previous game.
What will be interesting is whether the Chargers may change things around, and probably try and get a hard-hitter like Dwayne Smith (14/1 at Totesport to top-score for his side) to open the batting with Gilly to take the pressure off him. Want to punt that it could happen?
Bangalore’s much vaunted batting line-up collapsed at the face of a difficult target, but a part of the blame needs to be taken by the team management as well. Getting in Rahul Dravid (6/1 at Totesport) and Jacques Kallis (3/1 at Ladbrokes, both to top-score for Bangalore) to open the innings whilst chasing more than nine an over was a joke and they will need to rectify that as soon as they can.
Instead, one gets the sense that Dravid should be probably be sandwiched between a Kevin Pietersen (9/2 at Blue Square) and a Robin Uthappa (11/2 at Paddy Power to top-score for his side) in the order, both of whom have been in some sparkling form and could prove to be the difference between Deccan and Bangalore.
Tips:
Favourites: Royal Challengers Bangalore (4/5 at Stan James)
Top Bangalore batsman: Kevin Pietersen (9/2 at Blue Square)
Top Deccan batsman: Rohit Sharma (4/1 at Boylesports)