The second semi-final of this edition of the IPL will be played at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. Both sides have made it to the final of the tournament, once before, and for the team winning this game, it will, thus, be the second such occasion; making them the first ever side to do so.
The Deccan Chargers looked to have absolutely no chance of making it through to the knock-out round at one stage of the tournament, and the memoirs of the first edition of the tournament were being remembered. The turnaround came through five successive wins brought about by a team-effort, with not too many exceptional performances coming through. As compared to that, the Super Kings have been inconsistent, excellent on a particular day, and down in the dumps on another.
All of it will count for nothing though, neither the momentum, nor the 2-0 record that the Chargers have had over the Super Kings. That said, it is a surprise to see the bookies favour Chennai (11/13 at Bwin to win the game) over the Deccan Chargers (11/10 at Bet365 to get to the final) for this game.
The worry for Chennai will be Matthew Hayden’s (10/3 at Boylesports to be the best for Chennai) form, but Murali Vijay (10/3 at Boylesports to be the best batsman for his side) will look to celebrate his elevation to the Indian team for the World T20 (after Sehwag hurt his shoulder) with a big one. That said, the biggest beneficiary of the previous game against Kings XI Punjab would have been MS Dhoni (5/1 at Blue Square to top-score for his team), who, before that match-winning, chest-thumping half century, was a pale shadow of himself at the crease.
The other vital cog in the Super Kings’ wheel will be Suresh Raina (7/2 at Coral to top-score Chennai), who will be tested with the short stuff, but if he does manage to overcome that, will be a man to watch out for.
Deccan Chargers will need Gilchrist (10/3 at Boylesports to be the best bat for Chargers) to come good in the same manner that he had in the semi-finals of the previous edition. He was the one-man army for the Chargers in that game that had effectively ended the Delhi hopes. However, the Chargers will not lose sleep over his lack of form, given that they are a side which has looked to have shunned the dependence on a single player; joint efforts from the likes of Andrew Symonds (9/2 at Boylesports), T Suman (6/1 at Ladbrokes) and Rohit Sharma (4/1 at Coral, all to top-score for their side) have seen the side through to this stage.
The big question mark though is whether the Chargers will go in with Herschelle Gibbs (9/2 at Boylesports to be the best); my sense is that the big-match player that he is, could well be the match-turner for his side.
Tips:
Favourites: Chennai Super Kings (11/13 at Bwin)
Top Chennai batsman: Matthew Hayden (10/3 at Boylesports)
Top Deccan batsman: Adam Gilchrist (10/3 at Boylesports)