The second qualifier of the fourth season of the Indian Premier League 2011 will be played between the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The game, 73rd of this tournament, will be played at the M Chidambaram in Chennai and will come with a huge incentive to the winning side – a final’s berth.
Mumbai v Bangalore odds:
Bangalore (6/5 at
Coral) has had a much better second half of the tournament, but off the last three games they have lost two while the Mumbai Indians (8/11 at
Blue Square) have won two.
Bangalore’s over-dependence on Chris Gayle has landed them into trouble on many occasions but that was certainly not the reason for their previous defeat to the Chennai Super Kings – it was their bowling. On the other hand, Mumbai were able to put across the Kolkata Knight Riders in the last two games in a row.
Ground and Pitch:
The Chennai wicket will be a tad slower than all the others around the country which should make it imperative for the sides to go in with an extra spinner. Both have only one main spinner apiece, in Daniel Vettori and Harbhajan Singh, but beyond that, the spin bowling resources taper towards non-existence.
Player News:
The side which has a better chance of making a change or two to their line-up is Mumbai Indians. They could be looking to strengthen their bowling by getting in an extra spinner in place of a batsman. If Ray Price has to be brought into the playing eleven, then, they will need to drop a foreign batsman – one of Aiden Blizzard (4/1 at
BetFred), James Franklin (8/1 at
Boylesports) or Kieron Pollard (9/1 at
Totesport).
Of the aforementioned, Pollard is the only batsman who hasn’t shown sustained form with the bat but Sachin Tendulkar (12/5 at
Totesport) does like to have a cushion of having a big hitter in the dressing room. So, a quick Ali Murtuza-T Suman swap could just be in the offing.
In a way, Bangalore would be relieved by the previous Gayle failure. Despite that, they had gone on to make more than 170 thanks to the batting of Virat Kohli (4/1 at
William Hill), who went on to make 70 from 44 deliveries. Now, the Royal Challengers only need AB de Villiers (4/1 at
Blue Square) to get amidst runs and the things would be fine for the side.
Saurabh Tiwary’s (8/1 at
Boylesports) lack of runs could just be a concern for the Bangalore side in this knock-out match.
Prediction:
There are no favourites although the track might suit the Royal Challengers Bangalore more as a team than the Mumbai Indians. If Gayle gets going, you can get bet your bottom dollar the Royal Challengers Bangalore will win it – as it has happened in eight of the other games – but if the Mumbai Indians can get him out early, they will be in with a good chance too.