The league games of the IPL have finished and the stage is set for the first of the two semi-finals that will be played between Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Originally scheduled to be played at the M Chinnaswamy, the security concerns raised by the two blasts outside the Bangalore stadium made it pertinent to shift the game out.
The two sides have played each other in the IPL six times before this game, and both sides have won thrice. Mumbai (3/4 at Boylesports to win the game) has never won in their home town against them, and so, they will need to overcome history to get the better of Bangalore (6/5 at Bet Fred to enter final). Having said that, the Mumbai side were easily the best in the competition throughout the league stage, which makes for an interesting competition.
Bangalore has an enviable batting line-up, which they will look to bank upon on a pitch they have yet to play a game in any edition of the tournament. Robin Uthappa’s (11/2 at Sky Bet to be Bangalore’s best batsman) run in the tournament makes him a feared batsman in the middle, whereas the break afforded to Kevin Pietersen (9/2 at Coral to top-score for his side) after his initial half century seems to have done him good.
The issue, for me, is at the top of the order. Manish Pandey (5/1 at Sky Bet to be the best batsman for his side) has barely looked like the batsman of 2009, and Jacques Kallis (3/1 at Ladbrokes to top-score for Bangalore), despite being at the second position in the run-getters’ table has had a rather poor strike-rate. One may see captain Anil Kumble changing things around at the opening slot.
Mumbai had rested six of its players for the previous encounter and lost the game rather easily. Whether this will have any effect on the momentum remains to be seen, but if one were to track their performance in the last few games, Mumbai have won three matches without too many runs from Sachin Tendulkar (17/8 at Boylesports to top-score for Mumbai). Kieron Pollard’s (8/1 at Boylesports to be Mumbai’s best) return to form, and Dwayne Bravo’s (12/1 at Totesport to top-score for Mumbai) loss of it will make things interesting, but the one man that many fans would be interested in watching would be Saurabh Tiwary (11/2 at Paddy Power to top-score for his side).
Tiwary has had a good IPL, but how he handles the pressure of a knock-out game, whilst coming in at a vital number three or four position will be a test for the Under-19 World Cup winning batsman.
While Mumbai Indians did look a champion side for almost the entire duration of the tournament, in a format like this, there are no second chances in the knock-out round. And, one can be rest assured that the Bangalore side will come hard at the opposition, making it an interesting contest.
Tips:
Favourites: Mumbai Indians (3/4 at Boylesports)
Top Mumbai batsman: Sachin Tendulkar (17/8 at Boylesports)
Top Bangalore batsman: Kevin Pietersen (9/2 at Coral)