Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Mumbai Indians - Match Review

An inconsequential game.

Consolation win for Mumbai.

Only interesting phase of the game was when Steyn was bowling an impressive spell against Jayasuriya.

The campaign ends for the powerhouse of Indian cricket.

Gavaskar, Shastri etal. keep licking your wounds.

Revenge Battle Results
Uthappa v Akhil - Uthappa
Dravid v Pollock - Draw

Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians - Preview

A completely meaningless match thanks to Chennai taking control of their own destiny yesterday. Mumbai have nothing to play for now, perhaps not even pride. I would say Bangalore have the edge in today's game and I hope they put it past Mumbai.

I have no sympathies for Mumbai. Twice they messed up their chances. First they could have beaten Delhi and got into the semifinals themselves while putting us also in. They didn't do that. Then they could have beaten Rajasthan to ensure that they remained in control of their destiny. They didn't do that either in the bargain they prayed for us to lose - and so they do not deserve any sympathy whatsoever.

Bangalore are on a relative high having won their last two games. Hope they finish off on a high.

Teams
Bangalore - Royal Challengers have been missing Zaheer Khan with a slight injury. Interesting to see if he returns. Kallis also suffered an injury in the last game, if he is not fit, Boucher might slot in. I would like to see the youngster Bharat Chipli get a chance in place of Jaffer.

Mumbai - Players like Ashwell Prince and Loots Bosman have not got a single game; Luke Ronchi, Dominic Thornely have got very few. Will Mumbai rest their top players like Pollock to give these guys a go ?

Revenge Battles
Jayasuriya v Kallis
Uthappa v Kallis
Uthappa v Akhil
Pinal v Akhil
Nayyar v Vinay Kumar
Nayyar v Praveen
Pollock v Vinay Kumar
Pollock v Praveen
Pollock v Zaheer
Dravid v Pollock
Kallis v Nehra
Kohli v Jayasuriya

Mumbai Mess It Up - YET AGAIN

For the third time in a row, Mumbai has managed to pull off defeat from the jaws of victory and in the process granting free passage to the semifinals for the Daredevils !

Just how the bowlers and fielders could mess up sufficiently for the two little lefties to take the game away is beyond imagination !

Full credit to the Royals though - esp the miniature Niraj Patel and Ravindra Jadeja !

Initially the much awaited Tendulkar v Warne contest didn't really materialize. While Tendulkar looked like he wanted to wait before launching himself on a difficult pitch he surrendered his wicket just at the wrong time. It was only the heroics of Takawale that took Mumbai to 145 in the first place.

So now Mumbai's destiny is out of their own hands. They will have to hope for a poor performance from Chennai tomorrow. Of course, we are not going to talk about that, are we ?

Revenge Battle Results
Watson v Jayasuriya - Draw
Kaif v Raje - Draw
Uthappa v Warne - REVENGE for Warne

Battle-e-Royale

It will be after 4 years that the great magician Shane Warne will be taking on the player he ranks the best he has ever faced in a battle of any format. This has to be the star attraction in a game that is nevertheless critical for the survival of 3 teams in the IPL !

Shane Warne's Royals are not one of them - they are safely through and most likely assured of the No. 1 spot. But Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai cannot afford to put a foot wrong from here on - defeat here would not mean the end of the World but it would mean that they would have to rely on last placed Deccan to put it past Dhoni's men in the game tomorrow.

Chennai and Delhi will also be keenly watching the result of this game.

Teams
Graeme Smith's absence would be a huge plus for the Indians, but Watson might be back to make a difference with bat and ball. Akmal is striking great form for the Royals too, and the little dynamite Asnodkar is as dangerous as ever. Of course you cannot forget Sohail Tanvir the most dangerous bowler in the IPL so far, alongwith Warne himself.

For Mumbai their success against the Royals in their last game came largely on the basis of their good bowling launched on the performance of the great Shaun Pollock. But he has been a bit off the boil lately and suffering from some niggles. Mumbai must hope that he comes good. As also that Warne's presence in the opposition inspires the Little Master to come back with something special. Otherwise an in-form Jayasuriya might just not be enough given that the team is packed with lazy baby elephants like Uthappa.

Revenge Battles
Asnodkar v Raje (Raje)
Yusuf v Nehra (Nehra)
Watson v Jayasuriya (Tie)
Kaif v Raje (Raje)
Uthappa v Watson (Uthappa)
Uthappa v Warne (Uthappa)

Alive And Kicking !

Delhi have made sure they have kept both Mumbai and Chennai anxious and the innaugural IPL alive and kicking by winning their lost match, albeit things from here on, are out of their control. This was a match that Mumbai had their chances in several times over, yet blew them away. What a fine knock by young Karthik under pressure. He seems such a fine player, yet one wonders why he hasn't been able to cement his place in the Indian team yet.

Meanwhile Mumbai's fielding was so pathetic it would have been a travesty had they managed to win despite that. Uthappa in particular was utterly shocking, terrible and rubbish. He has grown fat and portly and slow and he is shooting off his mouth about fitness to senior players ! Bah !

Revenge Battle Results
Jayasuriya v Yomahesh - Jaysuriya gets REVENGE
Nehra v Gambhir - DRAW
Pollock v Sehwag - Sehwag WINS again !
Nehra v Dhawan - DRAW

Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians - Preview

Do-or-die - Yet Again !
For Delhi that is. Lose and they are out. Win, and there is a fair chance they could still be out. Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why ... theirs but to ... - as Lord Tennyson would have happily said. Other than that the main attraction of this game is going to be the resumption of battle between the two greats - Glenn McGrath and Sachin Tendulkar !

Teams
Delhi - The middle order has to fire. Will it be Tiwari ? Who wil support McGrath this time ? Mishra could be a key bowler.

Mumbai - Crucial to get back to their winning ways after 1-run defeat to Punjab. Will they continue to show the faith in Uthappa ? Will Kulkarni be back ?

Revenge Battles
Jayasuriya v Yomahesh
Thornely v Bhatia
Uthappa v Sangwan
Nayyar v Sehwag
Pollock v McGrath
Pollock v Yomahesh
Nehra v Gambhir
Pollock v Sehwag
Jayasuriya v Sehwag
Thornely v Sehwag
Nehra v Dhawan
Nehra v Bhatia

The Greatest Game ?

Could this arguably be the greatest game of the IPL so far ? When Yelgati played out VRV Singh's last ball he started out on the single knowing fully well that this run would take the game to a bowl-out. What he didn't factor in was a Jonty Rhodesque-flight from Yuvraj Singh with ball in hand to dislodge all three stumps fraction of milliseconds before he made it to safety. This was only the thrilling climax in what had been a dramatic match full of tense and exhilarating moments.

It all started really when Mumbai began their batting. Up until then it had been a fairly normal T20 game with another good innings by Marsh and some lusty if unattractive hitting by Pomersbach. When Jayasuriya gave Mumbai another flier, that was the first indication that we would have an exciting game on our hands. And when Sreesanth got him completely outfoxed by a slower one, the excitement really began. For a while there was good strokeplay by Smith and some superb batting by SRT. And when SRT and Nair were going well together, in particular Nair hitting those towering sixes it looked like Mumbai would ramp home.

Enter Piyush Chawla - who got rid off the dangerous Nair with a perfect googly. And then, more importantly Utthappa. It is hard to describe exactly what Utthappa was trying to do on the wicket today. It wouldn't be too harsh to say he fairly sucked miserably at whatever he did. Uthappa in the past few months has become fat, developed a most hideous hairstyle, reduced himself to a two-shot wonder and if reports are to be believed is enjoying life and taking his cricket too lightly. Not only did he royally mess up, he showed an astonishing incompetence in handling pressure and in doing so commited the cardinal sin of running out a well-set Sachin Tendulkar !

When Pollock got out one thought that it was over at that stage but then VRV Singh nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It required some comedy from Nehra and a brilliant combination fielding effort from Srivastava-Jayawardene-Uday Kaul to get the match to a situation where 2 runs were needed from one ball. And then, as mentioned before, Yuvraj took off in flight and finished it.

With this win, Punjab more or less guarantee themselves a semifinal slot. Mumbai will have to slog it out but with 3 more games to go they still have a very even chance. Of course considering what happened later in the day, this tournament may have just blown wide open at the very moment we thought it to be closing in.

Revenge Battle Results
Pathan v Nehra - Draw
Sangakara v Pollock, Kulkarni - No show
Yuvraj v Pollock - No show
Sreesanth v Kulkarni - No show
Sreesanth,VRV v Uthappa,Pollock - No show
Pathan v Nayyar - Draw

Mumbai Indians v King's X1 Punjab - Preview

Big Game
In all likelihood, it is going to be Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan and Chennai that are going to make it through to the semifinals, and so this one is a big game - it will give us an idea of which team is stronger going into the last 4. Mumbai have a 6-4 record to Punjab's 7-3 but if Mumbai win tomorrow they can level it up and probably go as high as No. 2 on the table. It will be a really unbelievable run of 7 wins after the first 4 losses. Mumbai is the team with all the momentum, but again, one feels they have got to slip at some point and what better team than Punjab to take advantage of that ? Bravo's departure will be a major blow for Mumbai and Punjab will do well to exploit it. However if the Pollock-Jayasuriya combination fires again, there is little that Yuvraj and his men will be able to do.

Punjab's Outstanding Record
King's X1 Punjab have a splendid 7-3 record but somehow I still feel they are not as good a team as their record suggests. Part of the reason for this could be that Chennai has beaten them, quite comfortably, twice. Three of their 7 wins have come against Bangalore and Hyderabad, one against an out-of-form Mumbai, and one - a bit of a lottery against Delhi thanks to Duckworth and Lewis and Sehwag.

Teams
For Mumbai the big question - who will replace Bravo ? They have got Nel and Smith as cover, but Nel is no batter and Smith is no bowler - well, not in the same league as Bravo, anyway. Pollock had a slight niggle - will he be fit enough ? Will Tendulkar find the touch at last ?

For Punjab, what is interesting is whether Sangakarra will be fit - for he will be crucial in negotiating Pollock. Otherwise, the team has a fairly settled look. Interesting to see how Sreesanth goes in this game after what happened the last time the two teams met.

Revenge Battles
Well, the biggest of them is not going to happen, thankfully, because Harbhajan won't be around to take on Sreesanth.
Other than that
Pathan v Nehra
Sangakkra v Pollock, Kulkarni
Yuvraj v Pollock
Sreesanth v Kulkarni
Sreesanth, VRV v Uthappa, Pollock
Pathan v Nayyar

Another Well-Constructed Hash

The Deccan Chargers completed another well constructed mess to record their impressive ninth defeat in eleven games in the competition. Such performances have become the norm by now for this team and really we should come to expect them every time they play. Mumbai was on a massive winning-streak coming into this game and the Chargers have just given them another shot in the arm by extending that run to 6, the longest by any team in the IPL so far. After having Mumbai in serious trouble at 100/4 in 14 odd overs Deccan Chargers showed off their generous side yet again by allowing the visitors to post an impressive 179. I was lucky I did not invest too much time in this very average game, preferring instead to watch the wonderful final between Nadal and Federer.

I was actually amazed to see Bravo play - I thought he was supposed to leave for the West Indies, but did he come to the party and how ? First, a crucial 30 and then that destructive spell earned him the Man of The Match, although to be fair it was Fernando's early wickets that really set up the collapse.

The Chargers have shown that they are not even capable of playing the role of King-maker or spoilsport and their only chance of notching up another win might come when the equally pathetic Bangalore Royal Challengers visit them later in the tournament.

Revenge Battle Results
Bravo v RP Singh - Looked like Bravo would get his revenge when he hit a 6, but RP bowled him next ball
Jayasuriya v Afridi - No show
Bravo v Gilchrist - Draw
Uthappa v Afridi - Afridi kept Uthappa quite again
Pollock v Bangar - No show
Nayyar v Afridi - Once again Nayyar took to Afridi !
Nayyar v Zoysa - Nayyar gets his revenge, 2 boundaries
Gilchrist v Nehra, Pollock, Jayasuria and Nayyar - Draw/No-show but it was the new man Dilhara who got Gilly !

Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians - Match Preview

It must be difficult getting up to play after 8 defeats, but that is exactly what the Chargers will have to attempt to do tomorrow. Mumbai are on a roll and are massive favorites, plus they take on an opponent that won't necessarily be up for it but that by no means allows them to be complacent thanks to their slow start. Delhi's loss today might have given Mumbai breathing space but there is still a close battle between Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai for two semifinal slots.

Teams
While the Deccan Chargers famed batting lineup has failed miserably (Gibbs, Styris, Afridi have been failures of a titanic nature) it is their bowling and fielding that leaves a lot to be desired. With the exception of RP Singh, there is no quality in their bowling and one has to question how they can leave the likes of Vaas and Zoysa on the bench. With the Indian stars like Rohit and Venugopal doing fairly well with the batting it is probably time to pack up the bowling with foreigners and shed out liabilities like Gibbs, Styris and Afridi.

Bravo's loss will be a blow for the Mumbai Indians, but so long as Pollock and Jayasuriya are firing I don't think they have much to worry about. I also hear that Andre Nel is joining the team and that can be another massive plus. With Tendulkar bound to fire at some stage, it is all looking very rosy for the "Men in Blue". What will be interesting is who replaces Bravo for tomorrow's game.

Revenge Battles
Jayasuriya v Afridi - Afridi got him on his first ball last time
Uthappa v Afridi - Afridi dismissed him cheaply, too
Pollock v Bangar - Polly laid into Bangar before getting out to him
Nayyar v Afridi - Nayyar was one man who got the measure of Afridi
Nayyar v Zoysa - Zoysa got him with the bouncer
Gilchrist v Nehra, Pollock, Jayasuriya and Nayyar, all of whom he shred to pieces !!

They said ...

.... it was a young man's game !

.... it was a batsman's game !

Clearly they had not reckoned about these great old warriors - a Lankan and a Protean now playing as "Indians" and producing performances like this and this.

Put in a slightly assisting wicket, and fill the opposition team with batsmen full of suspect technique and that is a classic recipe for Shaun Pollock to create havoc.

It is hard to believe that their respective countries have found these aged warriors redundant !

Seriously speaking, Kolkata's batting lineup is VERY weak. In the last few games the reason they have done so well is their bowling and fielding. In my opinion, Ganguly is easily the best player in the side and that's not saying much. I can't understand why Tatenda Taibu was benched - Mohammad Hafeez has hardly done anything of note at all.

As for the Mumbai Indians, well now they are a serious force to be reckoned with. The only question is how long will Jayasuriya's dream run last ? And will there be another one come semifinals time ?

Revenge Battle Results

Pollock v Ganguly - No show/Draw

Jayasuriya v Hussey - No show

Bravo v Shukla - No show

Jayasuriya v Ishant - Jayasuriya gets the revenge !

Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders - Match Preview

Both teams that are on a roll after being down in the dump for a bit ! Mumbai have won their last 4 games after losing the 4 before, Kolkata have won their last 3 after losing the 4 before ! While Kolkata are slightly ahead on the table, Mumbai have a game in hand and can make it all level with a win tomorrow ! In fact that would put three teams - Mumbai Delhi and Kolkata jointly at 10 points bang in the middle of the table ! With no team yet guaranteed of a semis slot, tomorrow's match could make the plot all the more interesting. Plus these are the two teams with arguably the most passionate fan support so expect a high-intensity all out clash at the Wankhede !

Team News

Mumbai have been banking on their team effort so far until Jayasuriya changed it all in the last game. Expect the core set of players - Uthappa, Bravo, Pollock, Kulkarni, Nayyar, Raje, Takawle, Nehra to put in another good effort. If the openers fire, then that will be like the icing on the cake. Maybe tomorrow it will be Tendulkar's turn to hog the limelight. He looked out of sorts yesterday more particularly so because of what was happening at the other end. Kulkarni continues to impress with the ball.

For Kolkata now, the strength is definitely the bowling - the pace bowling, at that. But their record away from home has not been very good. However looking at the passion with which the team is playing Mumbai would do well to be wary.

Revenge Battles

Pollock v Ganguly - Polly got Dada very early last time to set up the win

Jayasuriya v Hussey - Jayasuriya (the bowler !) was the wrecker in chief last time, will he bowl though ?

Bravo v Shukla - Shukla (the batsman) thrashed Bravo (the bowler) for a bit

Jayasuriya v Ishant - who can forget Ishant sending the stumps cartwheeling ?

Prediction: I give the edge to the home team in this contest, but only just.

We Lost To The Better Player !

I choose to quote Steve Waugh today for there is nothing else that can describe today's performance. Yes, we struggled with the bat and the ball early but once in a while Jayasuriya can produce an innings of such bloody magnificence that even a total of 300 would appear tiny. It was another sensational IPL performance and immediately finds mention in my moments post earlier.

Chennai Superkings vs Mumbai Indians - Preview

It's all building up to a very exciting final third of the IPL. After a grand opening, there was a bit of a lull with a few dud games but yesterday the stars lit up Eden and today the biggest Maharathi of them all, is going to make his belated, yet much anticipated entry.

The best part is he will be walking in against one of the stronger teams of the championship and one which is on the rise again. Chennai Superkings is led by Dhoni, whose leadership qualitities, apparently, were first noticed by SRT himself. What will happen when the two lock horns ?

For more details follow Robin's review here.

Although this is Sachin's first foray, the two teams did meet before. Here are some revenge battles we can look forward to:

Raina and Dhoni versus the entire Mumbai attack (whom they shredded to pieces last time)
Gony v Jayasuriya

One battle which did not quite happen last time but I'm keen to see is Murali v Jayasuriya.

Beating The Best

Mumbai Indians have made it a habit of beating only the best. Something akin to reverse-minnow-bashing. First they beat Kolkata when Kolkata were still one of the top teams, then they beat the then No. 1 Delhi and now Rajasthan.

Seriously the DY Patil Stadium is an intimidating arena for visiting teams as Shastri rightly put it and I think Reliance are just being foolish by shifting the games to the Wankhede.

A word for Nehra - what is this guy up to ? Expect a whole lot of reports and reviews about how on his day Nehra is still the best in the country and talks of his imminent return when the fact is all he has done is dimiss Pathan, Tanvir and Rawat in an IPL 2020 game in a spell of 4 overs

Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians - Preview

Warne vs Tendulkar

Agony and Ecstasy !

These would be the contrasting emotions fans would have experienced in the coastal cities of Mumbai and Chennai yesterday ! Mumbai showed the fighting spirit needed to win, Chennai were outclassed and thrashed as Robin here lucidly puts it. Mumbai, despite being able to put up only a moderate total rallied under captain Pollock to pull of the win. Chennai on the other hand had to face the ignominy of coming up with the second-lowest total in the tournament in what can only be termed as the most abysmal of performances.

Where do the teams go from here ?
Mumbai with that win, have made a leap from the bottom of the table to No. 5 while Chennai drops 2 spots to No. 4. Of course, Chennai still has a 4 point lead over Mumbai which will take some work to erase. But Mumbai can only go from strength to strength from here. If (and that's a big if) Sachin Tendulkar finally takes the field and decides to put one past Warne, his old foe, that would just blow the competition wide open as Warne's Rajasthan Royals are the undisputed leaders at the moment. Chennai, meanwhile, have a lot of introspection to do. First they need to ensure they don't slip up against bottom-placed Hyderabad at home. This is potentially dangerously slippery encounter. Hyderabad may have lost almost everything under the sun, but a lot of their games were very tight and as their one win shows, if Adam Gilchrist fires at the top of the order they can look a completely different team.

A word for the other two teams that were in action yesterday. What can you say about Warne except "hats off" ? He has managed to better 7 Indian captains, present and former to go right up to the top of the table. He has proved what a great loss World cricket and Australian cricket suffered by not appointing him as captain. Sohail Tanvir was an absolute sensation ! 6-14 in a 20 over game ? At one point his figures read 5-2 !!

Delhi I think were a bit complacent. I worry that their middle order is undercooked and not strong enough to back their fabulous top order and superb bowling lineup.