Confident MI face RCB in crucial IPL game

While MI have garnered 14 points from 11 matches RCB are trailing them by three points having played the same number of games ahead of the highoctane first leg clash If MI stopped the Super Kings in their tracks when new recruit Dwayne Smith smashed Ben Hilfenhaus for a six and two fours off the last three balls RCB were no less impressive in pulling off a thrilling victory over Deccan Chargers AB de Villiers39 17ball unbeaten 47 swung the game RCB39s way and he along with another inform batsman Chris Gayle is a major threat to Mumbai39s hopes of pulling off their fourth straight victory AB de Villiers Photo AFP A victory for MI would boost the points tally to 16 with four games left and would help them draw level with Delhi Daredevils albeit with one game less in hand But more importantly it would ease the pressure enormously from their shoulders in the redhot race to the lastfour A setback for last year39s runnersup RCB would put them under the same sort of difficulties that are being faced by twotime holders Super Kings after their defeat to MI In batting RCB have been wellserved by lefthanded West Indian powerhouse Gayle 433 runs from 10 games at the top and classy righthanded South African de Villiers 292 from 11 games who can switchhit powerfully to spoil the spinners39 plans in the middle These two batsmen averaging 48plus have shouldered the responsibility of propping up the Bangalore batting admirably in which another key member India star Virat Kohli has unfortunately not lived up to the high expectations Tilakkaratne Dilshan has settled in the top order well and RCB would be depending a lot on this overseas trio and Kohli in batting against the varied Mumbai attack spearheaded by speedster Lasith Malinga The big worry for RCB is the Kohli39s lack of form He has scored just 201 runs from 11 games Mayank Agarwal and Saurabh Tiwary have also not made any significant contribution In bowling RCB have Zaheer Khan and R Vinay Kumar as the leading wickettakers but have not used Muthiah Muralitharan who has taken eight wickets from five games to the extent expected He played in the previous game after a lengthy gap Leftarm Indian pace spearhead Zaheer s battle with his Mumbai city mate and MI opener Sachin Tendulkar should liven up the proceedings in front of what is going to be another sellout crowd watching the match under lights RCB skipper Daniel Vettori 5 wickets from 9 games has struggled to take wickets but can pose challenges to the Mumbai batsmen with his vast experience while the team has the option to field fellowleft arm spinner K P Appanna With two wins and as many losses along with a split points verdict against Super Kings in their last five games RCB seem to have got their campaign back on track and a victory over MI would improve their qualifying hopes Their rivals MI are on a roll as they have beaten Deccan Chargers at home Pune Warriors away and the Super Kings in their backyard in successive games What was most heartening for MI was Tendulkar regaining his touch against the Super Kings He played a superb innings of 74 in 44 balls u00a0 Sachin Tendulkar L and Rohit Sharma R Photo AFP Another pleasing fact for MI is inclusion of Smith in the squad The Caribbean allrounder delivered the knockout blow to the Super Kings in the final over with an unbeaten 9ball 24 and the innings has cemented his place in the eleven Malinga who has emerged as the leading wicket taker in the competition after the game against Super Kings is the major threat for the Bangalore batsmen with his ability to bowl effectively as first or second change and at the death by using his inchperfect yorkers Skipper Harbhajan Singh has also sprang back to his muchvaunted form and R P Singh too bowled well against the Super Kings but a question mark remains over Munaf Patel who has gone for plenty in his last few games The support bowling from Robin Peterson and Smith did not measure up to the expected levels against the Super Kings and the former might give his place if Kieron Pollard returns after recovering from his right shoulder injury The rival teams from Mumbai Indians Harbhajan Singh C Sachin Tendulkar Abu Nechim Amitize Singh Aiden Blizzard James Franklin Kieron Pollard Ambati Rayudu Y Chahal Clint McKay Herschelle Gibbs Davy Jacobs Richard Levi Dwayne Smith Dinesh Karthik Dhawal Kulkarni K Yadav Lasith Malinga Sushant Marathe Pragyan Ojha Munaf Patel Robin Peterson Sujit Nayak Rohit Sharma Suryakumar Yadav Jaydev Shah Rudra Pratap Singh T Suman Pawan Suyal Aditya Tare Apporva Wankhede Royal Challengers Bangalore Daniel Vettori C Mayank Agarwal KP Appanna Prashanth Parameswaran Arun Karthik Raju Bhatkal AB de Villiers Tillakaratne Dilshan Chris Gayle Mohammad Kaif Abrar Kazi Zaheer Khan Virat Kohli Charl Langeveldt Andrew McDonald Abhimanyu Mithun Muttiah Muralitharan Karun Nair Dirk Nannes M Gautam Ryan Ninan Asad Pathan Luke Pomerscback Harshal Patel Asad Pathan Cheteshwar Pujara Rilee Rossouw Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad S Thiyagarajan Saurabh Tiwary R Vinay Kumar Vijay Zol