So finally we all know the four teams who have qualified for the two semi finals of IPL season3. One of the first semi finals will be between the top two teams of the tournament Mumbai Indians and Bangalore Royal Challengers. Few days back Bangalore Royal Challengers have different strategy since they were expected to play this game in front of their home crowd however a minor blast outside the M.Chinnaswamy stadium shifted this game to one of the great venue Dr. DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai. If Royal Challengers have not lost their last game then they should be playing Chennai Super Kings but now they find themselves up against an imposing side at an intimidating venue. Mumbai Indians despite of losing their last game against KKR will be full of confidence and they would look to go into the final of IPL for the first time to give them chance to clinch the title. At league stage both teams have won one game each. Sachin Tendulkar will be once again play a key role in the batting department as we have seen in quite of few games that whenever he scored half-century his team able to win the game and whenever he fails with the bat rest of the batsman failed to score. Royal Challengers Bangalore on the other hand has so many good players in their rank that any one man can turn the game in a matter of few overs. Players like K.Pietersen, R.Uthappa, R.Taylor all are in good form and Anil Kumble will hope that any two of them fire in this big game. All in all this match will going to be cracking encounters between two top teams of this season. Watch out for Sachin Tendulkar: He is top run getter in IPL season three and he will be treat to watch when he walks into the middle in front of huge home crowd. So far he has scored 561 runs in 13 games in IPL 2010. He would love to play a long inning to help his team reach final of IPL for the first time. Anil Kumble: One of great comparator cricketing legend, he knows his weakness and strength. In last season of IPL he has helped his team to reach the final of IPL and this year he will try to repeat the same. Pitch & Condition The pitch at Dr. DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai will provide ample help for the fast bowlers. That means both teams will enjoy bowling on this wicket any score between 160-170 will be considered as good score on this wicket. So team winning the toss would love to bat first and put runs on the board. Teams In last few matches Mumbai had tried lots of bowling and batting combination and now they must have idea what is their best combination for this big game. K.Pollard, L.Malinga, Z.Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tedlukar is likely to back in the playing XI for this game. On the other hand Bangalore Royal Challengers is likely to go with the same playing XI because they know their best XI and they would like to stick with them. Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 20:00 PM India Time) Mumbai Indians Squad: Sachin Tendulkar (Captain.), Shikhar Dhawan, Saurabh Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, JP Duminy, Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, D.Fernando, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga. Bangalore Royal Challengers Squad: Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Kevin Pietersen, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa (WK), Rahul Dravid, Virat Kolhi, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble (Captain), R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar. Stats & Trivia Sachin Tendulkar and S.Dhawan have opened seven times for Mumbai Indians and they averages 46.43 at 8.55 per over. Total six numbers of matches played at Dr DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai and three have been won by team batting first and three by team batting second. The average score for the team batting first has been 153 runs, and second innings 140 runs. |
