Challengers look to stop Mumbai in their tracks
Cricket IPL: Kumble’s men run into sole unbeaten team
Power of youth and pragmatism of experience, two often warring qualities, seem to be in perfect harmony in the Royal Challengers Bangalore ranks.
After a collective failure against Kolkata Knight Riders, RCB appear to have discovered a magic potion that can bring together the virtues in old kings and young pretenders, something they will be hoping to sustain against in-form Mumbai Indians in their fourth match of IPL III at the Brabourne stadium here on Saturday.
Few would have put their money on Bangalore once Kings XI Punjab mustered a 200-plus total at the Chinnaswamy stadium. But under the guidance of Jacques Kallis, young turks Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa powered RCB home in a stunning display of batting. Kallis’ level-headedness was as enthralling as Pandey and Uthappa’s brazenness that night. But the performance just a trailer; youngsters and battle-hardened veterans joined forces against Rajasthan Royals in the most emphatic fashion.
Despite injuries to key players Graeme Smith and Dimitri Mascarenhas, the first edition champions still had power to hurt the home side, especially with an explosive player like Yusuf Pathan in their ranks.
But the over-reliance on elder Pathan let them down against the combined might of RCB. First, Kallis and skipper Anil Kumble led the bowling attack, splitting five wickets among them and their younger team-mate Praveen Kumar rounded off their effort with a hat-trick, bundling out Royals for a below 100 total.
The Kallis-Pandey alliance clicked for the second match in a row and the effect was devastating from the bowlers’ point of view. The South African-Karnataka combine fired out Royals’ bowlers to finish the formalities.
It was a perfect exhibition of a youngster matching a modern day great in stroke play, and that ability to blend skills together has been RCB’s greatest strength. Just imagine, players like Virat Kohli, Eoin Morgan and Rahul Dravid are yet to join the party and that could be a scary thought for the bowlers.
Well, the morrow is a good time for them to sign up to the tormentors’ list, and their contribution might be needed against a bowling line-up that includes the likes of Lasith Malinga, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.
The Mumbai Indians too have an equally strong batting with maestro Sachin Tendulkar leading that department that also features Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Sanath Jayasuriya and the home contingent – Saurabh Tiwary, Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu. Just like Bangalore, the Indians too can boast of a marvellous amalgam of young and old that worked well for them thus far.
It’s an intimidating line-up that has powered Mumbai to two 200-plus totals in as many matches in the tournament against Rajasthan and Delhi Daredevils, winning on both occasions.
There is a certain inconsistency in Bangalore’s bowling as they have shown against Kings XI and an encore here would be catastrophic. Against Daredevils, Tendulkar showed that T20, despite not playing that format internationally, is not a puzzle for him while notching up a forceful, innovative fifty.
Jayasuriya and Pollard are yet to unleash the mayhem, but even without runs from their willow Mumbai have proved their strength in the previous two matches, and that will be a comforting thought for the team management.Whatever be the calculations, entertainment will not be at a premium when these two red-hot teams take on each other.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anil Kumble (capt), KP Appanna, B Akhil, Rahul Dravid, Dillon du Preez, Sreevats Goswami, Virat Kohli, Eoin Morgan, Praveen Kumar, A Mithun, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, S Sriram, Roelof van der Merwe, R Vinay Kumar, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn.
Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, R Sathish, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Ryan McLaren, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ali Murtaza, Graham Napier, Abhishek Nayar, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare.
