Mumbai Indians take on the suddenly mighty-looking Deccan Chargers in the 12th match of the second season of the Indian Premier League on 25th April.
Mumbai Indians had earlier won their first match against the Chennai Super Kings, but had their second game rained off against the Rajasthan Royals. The Deccan Chargers have won both their opening encounters.
It is evident that it is difficult to choose a winner in this contest. Mumbai was rated very highly by the bookies as tournament favourites (9/2 at Victor Chandler), but haven’t played ever since the first day of the IPL; about a week back. This could have an effect on their momentum and may be the cause for concern in the Mumbai camp. Boyle Sports offers 1/1 for a Mumbai win in this match.
Sachin Tendulkar continues to be a favourite to be the highest Mumbai scorer (11/4 at Bet 365), but Sanath Jayasuriya isn’t too behind him (3/1 at William Hill). However, as seen from the Delhi-Chennai encounter the possibility of a couple of quick wickets always looms large, making it important to consider the possibilities of looking at the middle order. Without being too flashy Shikhar Dhawan could score the runs, where as Dwayne Bravo and Abhishek Nayar could both play cameos without scoring really tall. The bowling isn’t without bite either, but Zaheer Khan (4/1 at Stan James for being the most economic) will need to retain his bowling form that saw him get to the top of the international bowling charts, but to me the chances of Lasith Malinga (4/1 at Stan James) bowling the most economic spell look higher.
As compared to that, the Chargers (11/10 at ExtraBet to win the match) seem to have shrugged off their first season’s performances – or the lack of them anyways – and got off to a winning start with the couple of matches under their belt. Currently, apart from Delhi, the Deccan Chargers look most settled amongst the rest in all three of their departments. The batting is spearheaded by three of the most explosive and effective batsmen, and the difference is that they are in form.
In Herschelle Gibbs (10/3 at Bluesq for being top DC batsman), Adam Gilchrist (10/3 at William Hill for being top DC batsman) and Rohit Sharma (4/1 at William Hill for being top DC batsman), the Chargers have a top and middle order which is worth raving about, but amongst the three it is Sharma who catches my eye for his consistency. He could just be that player who goes on to be one of the highest scorer in the tournament.
Even a Venugopal Rao (9/1 at Ladbrokes for being top DC batsman) is no pushover, as shown in the last IPL and may just be the player to watch out for if the top-order capitulates on that rare occasion.
From amongst the bowlers, R.P. Singh (9/2 at Stan James for being the most economic bowler) seems to have come out no-where from his injuries and taken the opposition by storm. The pace and the nip which had been so missing from his bowling lately is back and that strengthens the Chargers’ arsenal. Fidel Edwards is the other bowler who may concede a few runs with the new ball, but if he does get it right, there is a reasonable probability of a few stumps lying flat on the ground. And then there is the most under-rated of them all, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (4/1 at Stan James for most economic bowler) who gives the ball a fair tweak and will be assisted by conditions that seem to helping spinners.
