Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians – Indian Premier League 5 – Match Preview
With season 5 delicately poised, two of the Indian Premier League’s pre-tournament favourites, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, meet to justify their tags, and sort out the play-off rush, in the 62nd game, played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, today, May 14, 2012.
Touted as the make or break IPL edition, the tournament has certainly validated its true presence in the cricketing fraternity. This season has been by far the most competitive – the stance highlighted by a frenzied points table where just 2 points separating the 3rd placed Indians from 7th positioned Kings XI Punjab.
With Punjab winning last night against a demoralized Deccan Chargers, and Royals muscling out Pune Warriors a couple of days back, the current clash holds greater implications on the eventual play-off spot for the two cash-rich IPL franchises.
Challengers and Indians have had inconsistent campaigns but their relatively stronger squads have still kept them firmly in contention. With three games left, both simply cannot afford to drop points.
In previous years, 16 points were considered as the bench mark for qualifying for the top four. However, the mid-table scramble has spiced things up, forcing the management of each franchise to calculate the necessary permutations.
Bangalore, currently fifth with 15 points, will have two games after today’s meeting, and will ideally need 2 wins. However, nothing is still guaranteed as they might need to win all their upcoming matches. They have managed to put a string of good performances, which includes three victories in a row.
Chris Gayle has been their marquee man. The Orange Cap holder has shared the major workload for most of the season, scoring 572 runs at an impressive average of 57.20, which include seven half-centuries.
His striking power is matchless and one expects that he will be needed again, despite the coming to form of Virat Kohli. Apart from Gayle, AB de Villiers has also stood out in recent times. The South African is arguably the most versatile player in the game today, and his ability to handle pressure will further hold Challengers in good space.
The major contention will be whether to play Daniel Vettori, their original skipper, or go in with the same lineup – with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Muttiah Muralitharan as the other overseas recipients.
Coming up against Mumbai Indians will not be easy. Despite losing against the same opposition on May 9 at Wankhede, Harbhajan Singh’s led side came back strongly to silence Kolkata Knight Riders.
For once, they finally got a perfect head start, following an impressive opening appearance from Herschelle Gibbs, who showed little signs of rustiness to play an anchoring knock of 66. Rohit Sharma also blossomed to rack up his first IPL century with absolute authority.
With the top order contributing, and the bowling lineup returning to familiar ways, the Indians will go into the clash confident. Their record at the M Chinnaswamy is also flourishing – registering convincing wins in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
If Bangalore has Gayle, Mumbai has one Lasith Malinga. The Sri Lankan spearhead has success written all over him and he will relish the forthcoming encounter, which further pits him against his compatriots in Dilshan and Muralitharan.
The pitch is expected to offer assistance to batters, and one must embrace oneself to a high-scoring game. Making a call on the eventual winner will be difficult, but Mumbai will be looking to get even after recently losing to the Challengers at home.
With plenty of intriguing battles to look forward to, one expects an electrifying atmosphere in Bangalore today as both set of fans will be coming in numbers to support their franchises.
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