IPL 2011 : Will MI hold their nerve against dynamic RCB?

Mumbai Indians Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

On 25th April 2010, Mumbai Indians took on the Chennai Super Kings at Mumbai in the finals of IPL 2010. Today,27th May 2011, we have a decider which determines who is going to play Chennai Super Kings at their home turf in this year’s tournament finals. The semifinal clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians is set to happen at M.Chidambaram Stadium,Chennai.

This year’s IPL has seen a lot of ups and downs in the various franchisee’s fortunes. Mumbai Indians were on a roll when they had won 8 out of their first 10 games with 4 to play. But eventually ended winning just one more to finish the table at the 3rd position with 18 points. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore, had a pretty lukewarm start to the tournament, until they flew in Chris Gayle, to turn the tables around. Ever since his arrival, Bangalore won all their matches barring one, finishing the round robin stage at the top of the table with 9 wins under their belt.

Both these teams are coming into this match with mixed reactions. Mumbai is coming after a win against Kolkata Knight Riders,who were the first team to be eliminated from the final 4.The Mumbai Indians might not completely happy with the way they won the match after they were cruising at one stage being 62/0 in the first 6 overs chasing a modest total of 148 for victory and completing the match only in the last over losing 6 wickets.But on the other hand,even though the Vijay Mallya owned outfit is entering this contest after a loss against the Chennai Super Kings,they can be proud about the fact that they lost the game just because of 1-2 overs which went the other way(just like Balaji’s last over against Mumbai Indians,a few days back).

The tournament’s penultimate match is going to be played at Chepauk,where the pitch is not going to be very different from, the one these 2 teams played their playoffs,Wankhede. It is going to assist the spinners but may not be a belter of a wicket.The team selections will be a important decision in determining today’s winner.

Mumbai has heavily relied on their pace attack of Malinga, Munaf, Kulkarni, Pollard and Franklin with the lone spinner in Harbhajan Singh.Though Pollard is a better allrounder, on his day, than Franklin, the current form of Pollard is questionable.Franklin has delivered really well with the bat in the team’s last 2 outings.It will be interesting to see if the management decides to bench Pollard at the cost of Andrew Symonds,who again has not got a great record this IPL,but as we all know,is a big match player.He gives them a huge boost in the middle order and also as a very handy off-spinner.

But the story is not very different in the Bangalore camp as well. They have a 3 seamer pronged attack in Zaheer,Aravind and Mithun. But they have with them,2 of the most miserly spinners currently in the tournament. Daniel Vettori,their skipper, is a class act and Chris Gayle bowled a fantastic spell against the CSK in first playoffs giving away just 19 runs of his 4 overs stifling the batsmen with his length.I strongly feel that Bangalore would decide to retain the same combination that played in the playoffs a couple of days back.

The first 2 playoffs have seen both of these teams resolve a long pending problem that has been nagging them throughout the tournament. Both have found a successful opening pair after loads of experimentation over the last 7 weeks.Mayank Agarwal played a fantastic and a confident innings against the likes of Morkel and Bollinger. He showed loads of confidence and will be raring to go in today’s match. Same was the case with Aiden Blizzard,who played a blinder,to take the Mumbai Indians into an unassailable position before the middle order temporarily decided otherwise.He was in sublime form taking on the pacers and the spinners at will and scoring at a fantastic rate of a 1.7 runs per ball.

Bangalore will also be confident that they have a team to post a real good total despite Chris Gayle failing at the top who has till now been a revelation for that squad.Kohli showed why he is such a great asset to any team he plays and Luke Pomersbach played a threatening innings at number 5. AB de Villiers is due of a big knock and we all know what he is capable of. Mumbai again have a strong middle order in the likes of Ambati Rayudu,Rohit Sharma and Franklin. If they are going to stick with Pollard,and if he comes off,then Mumbai will be a totally formidable batting line up.

?The temperatures are already soaring in the coastal city of Chennai, I am pretty sure,it is going to raise once the game starts. With Mumbai Indians not having played even one match here this season,look for some beginners luck or is it going to be Royal Challengers Bangalore looking to redeem itself in this venue. It is going to be a crackerjack of a match between two balanced sides.Game On.