Chennai Super Kings vs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Indians – Champions League T20 – Match Preview
After seeing their fortunes ruined by rain and poor performances, the heavy weights from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, will have one last chance to keep their Champions League T20 hopes alive when both battle it out in a crunch Group B fixture today, October 20, 2012, at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
The big picture for both sides is relatively bleak for now as their fate rests on the opening game today, played between Highveld http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lions-c808 and Yorkshire. If the Lions win the clash, both IPL franchises will play a dead-rubber as the South African domestic side will qualify for the semi-final stage, alongside the already present Sydney Sixers.
However, if Yorkshire manages a maiden victory of the tournament proper, then the winner of the second game will breathe a sigh of relief, while the other will be ousted, to join Kolkata Knight Riders.
In any case, it has been tough for the IPL teams in this year’s CL T20, where they have found conditions hardly to their liking. The Super Kings lost successive matches, against the Sixers and Lions, and it is fair to say that they deserved it.
Their batting order has shown promise but has failed to kick on, while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 but that hardly changed their fortunes. They will need consistency in both the departments in order to keep pace with the rest of the pack.
Again the onus will be on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DE-Bollinger-c1348 to improve on their showings.
As for the defending champions, their destiny was changed by the weather after they had put themselves in a dominating position against an injury depleted http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yorkshire-c867 side. However, the big loss suffered in the opening game has been detrimental to their overall progression to the knock-out stage and they will now need other results to go their way.
Their Indian contingent has offered little with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453 failing badly. The Master Blaster’s recent fortunes could be well described by the run-out in the previous game, and pressure will be on him to perform.
Dwayne Smith has provided able starts and the return to form for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KA-Pollard-c1754 will be seen as crucial. The attack will again be led by Lasith Malinga, but much will depend on the performances of the remaining bowlers, particularly their skipper.
The pitch will have a bit of moisture owing to rain; therefore, negating the new ball will be key. The weather is mostly cloudy, but one can expect a full game.
Mumbai Indians ( probable): Harbhajan Singh ( capt), http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RG-Sharma-c2309,
Chennai Super Kings (probable): MS Dhoni (captain), Faf Du Plessis, Ben Hilfenhaus, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Ashwin-c2228
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