Royal Challengers Bangalore

Jaipur: Chris Gayle scripted yet another victory of Royal Challengers Bangalore with an unbeaten 70-run knock as they spanked Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets to jump to the second spot in the Indian Premier League, here today.

Chasing a modest 147, Bangalore coasted to win with three overs to spare and spoiled Shane Warne’s last game at home as the Australian will retire from the league after this season.

Tillakaratne Dilshan though made his last outing at the IPL-IV memorable as he scored a quick-fire 38 to contribute in his side’s easy win while stand-in skipper Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 39.

Scorecard | IPL 2011

Rajasthan frittered away a good start to settle for a modest 146 for six after being invited to bat with opener Rahul Dravid (37) top-scoring for them.

Bangalore now have 15 points from 11 matches while Rajasthan’s play-off hopes have dipped as they will have to win remaining two matches and hope that some other results go in their favour. They remain at fifth spot despite defeat.

Kohli led Bangalore in the absence of injured Daniel Vettori and the 22-year-old Indian became the youngest captain to lead an IPL side.

It was Bangalore’s sixth win in a row while Rajasthan suffered their third straight defeat.

Gayle was dropped by Warne when he was in 13 but did not give them any chance after that as he smashed 10 boundaries, including four sixes in his 44-ball stay at the crease.

When the Bangalore chase started, all the eyes were on Gayle because of his scorching form but it was Dilshan who stole the thunder initially by hitting a flurry of boundaries.

He did not spare any bowler as he hit Shane Watson in the opening over for two fours and extracted boundaries at will when Johan Botha and Pankaj Singh were operating.

Warne committed a blunder by dropping Gayle off Botha when the Caribbean was on 13, making his own job more tough.

Dilshan on the other end continued to punish the bowlers as he creamed Siddharth Trivedi for two more fours as Bangalore raced to fifty in just five overs.

Gayle, who was playing second fiddle by then, lofted Botha for a six to make his presence felt but Dilshan fell to Warne while attempting a six in the mid-wicket region.

Gayle was not his usual aggressive self but was still scoring at a fast pace, running hard between the wickets along with Kohli and finding a boundary here and there.

IPL cheerleader sacked for naming ‘naughty’ players

But soon the scene changed as the left-hander from the West Indies hit Botha for a six to raise his fifty and then made Warne repent for his dropped catch by launching him for a six over long-off and followed it with a four.

Kohli too was playing confidently from the other end and ended the match with a four and six off Pankaj Singh. His 39 came off 34 balls.

Earlier, Rajasthan were off to a decent start with Dravid and Watson sharing 73 runs but Bangalore dominated the proceedings after left-arm paceman Sreenath Aravind consumed both the openers in the 10th over.

Scoring rate suffered after the double blow as the middle-order failed to carry on the good work and the biggest disappointment was Ross Taylor (13), who yet again failed to make any significant contribution.

Aravind (3/34) was the most successful bowler with three wickets, though he was not successful initially.

At the start, Watson found two boundaries off Aravind and Dravid hit his trademark elegant drives off Zaheer Khan and Charl Langeveldt as Bangalore reached 43 for no loss after six overs after being invited to bat.

Conditions were good batting as the ball was nicely coming on to the bat and both the openers started to play more freely with Watson launching Aravind for a huge six.

The openers were targeting Aravind a lot and in the process both of them fell in the left-arm paceman’s third over, 10th of the innings.

IPL Points Table

First to go was Watson, whose powerful hit landed straight in the hands of AB de Villers at long-off and two balls later, Dravid hit one back to the bowler.

Two new batsmen — Botha and Rahane — were at the crease and it affected the run-rate. Kohli himself bowled three overs and was pretty successful, conceding just 17 runs.

As if dipping run-rate was not enough Rahane was run out just after hitting Abrar Kazi for a six because of a terrible mix-up with Botha.

Botha reverse-swept Kazi and set out for a single which was not there and Rahane sacrificed his wicket.

Taylor took some time to settle and meanwhile Botha too perished before doing anything significant as Aravind returned to claim his third victim, this time caught behind.

Taylor and Ashok Menaria (8) departed while attempting big shots and eventually, the hosts failed to put up a challenging target.

ishant-sharma

Kochi: Riding on fast bowler Ishant Sharma’s fiery spell of five for 12, Deccan Chargers thrashed Kochi Tuskers Kerala by 55 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Nehru Stadium here Wednesday.

Man of the Match Sharma, who registered the third best IPL figures, wrecked the Kochi Tuskers batting and reduced them to 11 for six in four overs.

Scorecard

Ravindra Jadeja (23), Thisara Pereira (22) and R Vinay Kumar (18) were the only Kochi batsmen who could get to double figures before their innings wrapped up in 16.3 overs while chasing Deccan Chargers 129 for seven.

Dale Steyn struck in the first over to remove opener Brendan McCullum, who edged to wicketkeeper and skipper Kumar Sangakkara. In the next over, Sharma struck thrice in four balls to get rid of Parthiv Patel, Raiphi Gomez and Brad Hodge to leave the home team at two for four wickets. Patel was caught behind by the skipper while Gomez and Hodge were castled by Sharma’s in-swinging deliveries. All the four batsmen went back to the dugout without opening their accounts.

deccan-chargers

Sharma struck again in his next over when he trapped Kedar Jadhav plumb in front of the wicket and five balls later, got Kochi Tuskers’ captain Mahela Jayawardene (4) caught behind by Sangakkara to leave them reeling at 11/6.

Jadeja and Perera added 36 runs for the seventh wicket before Manpreet Gony struck in the 11th over to have Perera caught by Cameron White in the covers.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra got Jadeja caught by Daniel Christian at deep mid-wicket while Steyn wrapped up the innings by rattling the stumps of Vinay Kumar and Rudra Pratap Singh off successive deliveries.

Earlier in the day, Vinay Kumar took three wickets while Rudra Pratap Singh scalped two as Kochi Tuskers Kerala restricted Deccan Chargers to 129 for seven.

Sangakkara top scored with 65 while Cameron White made 31. They were the only two batsmen who got to double figures and they added 90 runs for the fourth wicket that saw the visitors get to a challenging total.

Sangakkara’s 65 came from 47 ball and included 10 fours while White hit two fours and a six in his 34-ball stay.

gautamgambhir

NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Manoj Tiwary feels that Gautam Gambhir’s willingness to give each and every member of team a “lot of space” makes him stand out of the pack.

“Gautam is an innovative captain. He comes up with lot of ideas and makes it a point to discuss it with the players. He tries to understand each and every player’s game and gives them a lot of space,” Manoj said on Wednesday.

When asked that how he had benefitted from his interactions with Gambhir, the Bengal captain said, “Everyone knows how good a player of spin bowling Gambhir is. He gave some useful advice about how my footwork should be against the spinners.”

About team’s principal owner Shah Rukh Khan, Manoj said that the locket he presented to each and every player after coming back from Ajmer Sharif will be a “treasured possession” for him.

“He presented us with a locket after coming back from Ajmer Sharif. It was a gesture that touched our hearts. For me, it will be a treasured possession as it is gifted by someone of his stature.”

He is trying to make a comeback to the Indian team, but Manoj doesn’t want to pressurise himself by thinking about it.

“My first focus is to win matches for KKR. I don’t want to think too far ahead. My job is to perform and that’s precisely what I am trying to do. I felt bad that twice (against CSK and Kochi Tuskers Kerala) I couldn’t finish off matches. But I have learnt from my mistakes and would like to rectify that in coming matches.”

About the CSK game, Manoj said, “My mistake was that I didn’t have a look at the number of deliveries left and went for an extra big hit. Against Kochi, I tried to reach to the pitch of the ball a bit early. It does hurt when you fail to finish off games.”

Chennai Super Kings

Chennai: Chennai Super Kings dug deep into their reserves to snatch a deserved 25-run win against Pune Warriors to boost their campaign in the Indian Premier League at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here Monday.

In a low-scoring game, the Super Kings, asked to bat first, stuttered to 142 for six with the consistent opener Michael Hussey making a 48-ball 61 and then came up with inspired bowling and fielding to restrict the visitors to 117 for nine with skipper Yuvraj Singh (34) playing a lone hand for the vanquished.

Scorecard

It was Super Kings’ third win in six matches and moved them up the league table with six points while the Warriors slid to their third defeat in five outings to remain on four.

The Warriors gave themselves a chance to win as seamers Jerome Taylor (3 for 30) and Alfonso Thomas (2 for 29) struck decisive blows after Hussey and Murali Vijay had put on 64 runs for the first wicket.

For the Super Kings, new ball bowlers Albie Morkel (3 for 29) and Doug Bollinger (2 for 20), besides off-spinner Ravichandran (2 for 19) did a fine turn.

The Chennai innings was a stop-start affair and never really took off despite Vijay (31) and Hussey providing a solid start.
With the ball tending to stop a bit, stroke-making was never an easy task and it was all that the Super Kings openers could do to nudge and push with an occasional big hit to keep the score ticking.

However, a double strike by Thomas in the 10th over that saw Vijay and Suresh Raina depart, put the Warriors on top before the hosts recovered with a 58-run partnership between Dhoni (26) and Hussey.

But the Super Kings were fast running out of overs and the runs came in a trickle. The Super Kings went without a boundary for four overs until Dhoni opened out with a six.

Neither Hussey nor Dhoni could dominate as the Warriors bowlers bowled a tight line and length, backed by some inspired fielding.
It was not long before desperation set in, leading to a flurry of wickets as Dhoni, Hussey and Albie Morkel lost their wickets in an attempt to step up the run rate.

In fact, the last four overs fetched the Super Kings a measly 24 runs, leaving them at least 20 short, but something to bowl at.
The Pune chase was off to a sensational start as wickets fell in a heap. Morkel and Ashwin picked up two apiece in four consecutive overs between them despite taking some punishment to reduce the visitors to 40 for four in the sixth over.

There was a flicker of recovery by Pune with Yuvraj Singh and Mithun Manhas adding 38 runs in about seven overs, but could never collar the bowling.

The Super Kings fielders displayed a refreshing change as they displayed a lot of commitment while throwing themselves about to save precious runs, so much so that the Warriors batsmen found the boundary line just twice in 10 overs.

Dhoni then came up with another master move, bringing on Bollinger for just one over and the left-arm seamer obliged by dismissing Manhas, caught behind.

Thereafter, the Warriors’ chase lost whatever little momentum they had and the Super Kings delivered the death blow when Shadab Jakati dived to catch Yuvraj off Morkel, bowling the 19th over, to leave the Super Kings winners by a country mile.

Chennai super kings team

Reeling from back-to-back defeats, defending champions Chennai Super Kings would aim to get back to winning ways when they take on unpredictable tournament debutants Pune Warriors in an Indian Premier League match here today.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai are second from bottom in the points table after three losses in five matches, all the defeats coming away from home, and would be seeking to regain their form in front of adoring home fans.

Chennai have another eight matches to go apart from today’s tie against Pune.

Last year too, they were facing elimination close to the end of league fixtures but their fortunes turned for the better as they went on to win the title.

Apart from their two wins against Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai have lost to Kochi Tuskers, Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab.

But despite the losses, coach Stephen Fleming has ruled out tinkering with the combination much.

Chennai’s batting has revolved around Dhoni, Mike Hussey, Suresh Raina and Srikkanth Aniruddha and the quartet has delivered on most occasions.

The team’s worries are mostly focused on the bowling department.

Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv is yet to find his rhythm and though he has claimed five wickets from four matches, he has also given away 120 runs in 15 overs so far.

R Ashwin, who was impressive in the earlier editions, is also lacking in thrust and has claimed only four wickets conceding 143 runs of his quota of overs from five innings.

As for the Pune Warriors, captain Yuvraj Singh has work harder for points as they too have lost two of their last matches.

They rely heavily on Yuvraj and the aggressive Jesse Ryder to build the innings and this over-reliance on the duo probably cost them in the last two matches.

On the positive side, Robin Uthappa struck form in the loss to Mumbai Indians and would be aiming to continue from where he left off when he faces Chennai’s bowlers.

Bowling is Pune’s weak link as the team does not feature a single established star which can intimidate the opposition by his sheer presence.

The likes of Wayne Parnell have been economical but have not captured many wickets.

Overview:

The reigning champions have been struggling with their bowling line-up. Starting from the mauling that they received at the hands of Punjab’s Paul Valthaty, to the loss against Mumbai Indians, MS Dhoni & Co have not been able to stem the flow of runs. The side’s number one spinner, R Ashwin has looked a pale shadow of himself, struggling to lead the side in the absence of Muralitharan, who was bought by the Kochi franchisee. Suraj Randiv too has failed to get going. Changes in the batting order too has not helped the side. To accommodate Australian Michael Hussey, Srikkath Anirudha has been forced to bat down deep, a role he isn’t relishing. Pune Warriors on the other hand have a settled look to their playing eleven. Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa and skipper Yuvraj Singh are amongst runs. Pune are coming into this game on a two-match losing streak.

Face-Off:

Pune opener Jesse Ryder is as classy as it can get but he has had his problems with the rising delivery. Once again it as was evident in his dismissal in the game against the Mumbai Indians, where medium-pacer Abu Nechim hurried him to play a short-arm pull, only to be caught. Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel would be waiting to use the same ploy against the burly batsman. Dhoni has often said in the past that Yuvraj Singh was his most important player in India colours. When the sides meet, it would be interesting to see, how the India skipper plans and plots, the dismissal of his star player.

The teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, G Bailey, Tim Southee, F du Plessis, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Joginder Sharma, Yo Mahesh, A Mukund, Wriddhiman Saha, Scott Styris, Sudeep Tyagi, K Vasudevadas, G Vignesh.

harbhajan singh andrew symonds mumbai indians

Mumbai Indians put up a commanding performance to trounce hosts Deccan Chargers by 37 runs to record their third straight victory in the Indian Premier League here Sunday.

Rohit Sharma (56) and Andrew Symonds (44) shared a 102-run stand for the fifth wicket, guiding the Mumbai Indians to a formidable 172 for four at the packed Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The Chargers never got in front in the chase and finished with 135 for eight in 20 overs.

Lasith Malinga (3-13) produced yet another sterling performance and heads the list of tournament’s leading bowler, way ahead of the field with 16 wickets from six matches. Charger’s Amit Mishra with eight wickets is a distant second in the list.

Scorecard | IPL 2011

With the convincing win, Mumbai Indians remained at the top of the points table and Tendulkar (269 runs in six games) with his 28-run cameo was able to get the Orange Cap back from revelation Paul Valthathy (261 in five) of Kings XI Punjab. It was also Tendulkar’s 38th birthday but he did not celebrate as he was mourning the death of Sathya Sai Baba.

Mumbai Indians were again brilliant on the field and effected three run outs. After Deccan Chargers captain Kumar Sangakkara was castled by compatriot Malinga in the 14th over, the chance of a recovery looked bleak for the home team. From there on, making 80 runs off 39 balls was always going to be a tough ask and when big hitter Daniel Christian (21) was brilliantly stumped by Davy Jacobs off Munaf Patel in the next over, the team’s fourth loss in six games seemed inevitable.

Earlier, Sharma and Symonds took off from where they left in the last match against Chennai Super Kings and played a major role in yet another solid batting display from the Mumbai Indians.

Tendulkar (28) and Jacobs (32) provided a brisk start but their dismissal led to another two quick wickets with the score being 70/4 in 9.1 overs. But that was when the destructive due of Symonds and Sharma came together and made sure the team gets to a strong total.

Sharma looked at ease smashing five fours and sending two deliveries over the ropes in his 34-ball innings.

Tendulkar’s birthday turns sad after Satya Sai’s death | Wish Sachin

The Australian, on the other hand, showed sparks of his old aggression as he blasted the Chargers bowling attack to all over the park. His 33-ball knock saw four boundaries and a six.

The duo’s century stand came after their 87-run partnership in the last match.

MUMBAI INDIANS MI IPL 4 DLF 2011

Mumbai: Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh led a clinical bowling show with a five-wicket haul after Rohit Sharma’s batting heroics as Mumbai Indians scored a thrilling eight-run victory over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League clash here tonight.

Mumbai posted a challenging 164 for four after being put into bat, thanks to a 48-ball 87 by Rohit and then Harbhajan (5/18) produced this IPL season’s second five-wicket haul to give the home side their fourth win in five games.

Harbhajan

Harbhajan’s MI team-mate Lasith Malinga was the first to take five wickets this season with five for 13 against Delhi Daredevils on April 10.

Harbhajan-Symond

The home side also produced a superb fielding show with the match turning their way with Kieron Pollard taking a stunning forward diving catch to remove Michael Hussey in the fifth over.

With this win at the Wankhede Stadium, MI surged to sole top slot with eight points.

Chasing a challenging total of 165, CSK lost wickets at regular intervals, including three in the 18th over from man of the match Harbhajan to be left stranded at 156 for nine.

Subramaniam Badrinath made a fighting, unbeaten 71 from 48 balls while Hussey scored 41 in 33 balls for a losing cause while the rest of the batsmen caved in meekly.

It was Harbhajan who took the bowling honours in the match with his five-wicket haul while Kieron Pollard took two catches, one of them a fabulous diving catch to send back danger man Hussey off Malinga.

Malinga, who today announced his retirement from Test cricket, ended up with fine figures of two for 20 while Munaf Patel and Pollard took a wicket apiece to help last year’s runners-up Mumbai defeat their arch-rivals for the fourth time in eight meetings in IPL history.

Chennai began their reply by losing two wickets within the first five overs with Murali Vijay departing after scoring 12 and Suresh Raina caught and bowled for five by Harbhajan. The double strike left Chennai at 38 for two in the fifth over.

dhoni

Hussey and Badrinath then put on 60 runs for the third wicket in 6.4 overs to put their side on course of the run chase. Both used the pace of the bowlers to find the gaps with nudges, flicks and off-glides.

Badrinath outscored his Australian partner by finding the gaps with aplomb. He also stepped out once to Rohit to slam the bowler for a six over the straight field.

However, Hussey surged past his partner by striking two fours off R Satish, the seventh bowler to be used by Tendulkar, in successive balls.

punjab-kings-xi

MOHALI: It was supposed to be a Shane Warne show with Liz Hurley clapping in the stands. Instead, another Aussie, Shaun Marsh, hogged the limelight with Preity Zinta cheering the left-hander.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

It was carnage at the PCA stadium on Thursday night, as Marsh hammered the daylights out of the Rajasthan Royals attack after Paul Valthaty and Adam Gilchrist had given the team a solid platform. After Kings XI Punjab posted 195 for seven, it would have required some getting for a team that has struggled with the bat. In the end, the hosts won by a comfortable 48 runs.

And so it proved, as the Rajasthan Royals’ batting fell apart under the pressure of the huge total. What turned out to be a masterstroke was Gilchrist’s decision to bowl out Praveen Kumar. Bowling his four overs on the trot, he accounted for Swapnil Asnodkar and the dangerous Shane Watson.

After the fall of the two, all that RR could do was try and make a match of it. But even in that they failed miserably as KXIP bowlers tied the batsmen in knots, be it with pace or spin. Even before the innings was halfway through, the writing was on the wall when leggie Piyush Chawla trapped the last hope Ross Taylor leg-before. From then on, it was just party-time in the stands with red flags waving all over.

Warne’s decision to provide the home team the first use of the placid pitch turned out to be an early Easter gift as Gilchrist and Paul Valthaty rode their luck and went berserk against the wayward RR bowling. The duo posted the fastest 50 in IPL history, from just 18 deliveries, and from there on KXIP held all the aces.

RR cannot but blame themselves, as they bowled no-balls at wrong times. In the first over, Siddharth Trivedi castled Gilchrist but it turned out to be a no-ball, In the very next over, Shaun Tait had Valthaty caught, but the TV umpire ruled it a no-ball for cutting the return crease.

To add insult to injury, both the resultant free hits were hammered to the boundary. Those incidents unnerved the RR bowlers so much that they not only lost their composure, but also their line and length and gave away runs at the speed of light. In the end these blunders proved decisive. Continuing his stupendous run in the IPL, Valthaty required just 24 balls to snatch the Orange Cap back from Sachin Tendulkar.

However, he threw away his hand as he became overambitious when he had the bowling at his mercy. He holed out to long-on in trying to hammer Warne out of the ground.

Kings-XI-Punjab-preity-zinta

The Rajasthan Royals were blown away in truly epic style as Paul Valthaty smashed 4 fours and 3 sixes during a blitzkrieg of epic proportions to over take from Sachin Tendulkar as the leading scoring.

Shaun Marsh (71) added a quick fire half century which included 6 fours and 3 sixes as no bowler was spared any mercy with Siddharth Trivedi the worst offender conceding 59 runs from his four overs as the Kings XI recorded a total of 195-7.

Despite conceding only 30 runs during the final 5 overs the Royals still faced a difficult run chase which never got going after the early loss of Rahul Dravid (8) and Shane Watson (24).

Having been reduced to 49-4 after 8 overs the Royals could have collapsed in dramatic fashion, but, to their credit, Stuart Binny and Asjok Menaria held the Kings XI at bay with a 5th wicket partnership of 50.

Despite Binny (30) and Menaria (34) offering some much needed resistant’s, the Royals continued to lose wickets at regular intervals to slump to a heavy defeat.

Having been put into the Kings XI got of to dramatic start thanks to Valthaty who decimated the Royals bowling attack with a scintillating batting display to help the home side record the fastest ever team 50 in the Indian Premier League.

Having been dismissed off a no ball by Shaun Tait in the second over, Valthaty punished the Royals by smashing Trivedi for 25 runs in the next over as the Kings XI reached 52-0 after just 18 deliveries.

Valthaty’s opening partner, Adam Gilchrist (28), himself dismissed off a no ball in the first over smashed Shane Warne for a six and a boundary as the carnage continued before Shane Watson struck to finally make a break through.

Despite the lose of Gilchrist, Valthaty continued to attack the Royals bowlers during a 2nd wicket stand of 38 with Shaun Marsh which put the Kings XI firmly in control of the game as the runs continued to flow.

Although the Royals hit back in the 10th over when Shane Warne struck to deny Valthaty (46) a well deserved half century the Kings XI continued to punish the visitors with Marsh taking over as chief tormentor.

No bowler was spared; Warne himself conceded 3 sixes in the 14th over as Marsh completed a quick fire half century from just 29 deliveries as the Kings XI juggernaut continued to roll.

Although the Royals struck back to remove Dinesh Karthik (21), Abhishek Nayar (1), Ryan McLaren (2) and Marsh towards the end of the innings the damaged had already been done leaving the visitors facing a big run chase.

Chennai-Super-Kings

Mumbai: Having suffered two defeats in as many away games, defending champions Chennai Super Kings face an uphill task when they take on last year’s runners-up Mumbai Indians in a high-voltage Indian Premier League match here tomorrow.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Super Kings have blown hot and cold this season. While they have defeated the opposition in their home venue, they have been tripped by an unknown Mumbaikar Paul Valthaty of Kings XI Punjab in Mohali and then by debutants Kochi Tuskers Kerala in their second away game.

Rain interruption proved to be crucial: Dhoni

Dhoni and his band of warriors, who won both last year’s IPL and Champions League in South Africa to make it a memorable double, would be anxious to put it across Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians here at the Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai will be the favourites in tomorrow’s match, having made a storming start to their quest of clinching the T20 League crown, which they had missed narrowly in 2010.

Both Mumbai and Chennai are aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses as they retained most of their players from last year’s campaign.

Chennai’s batting has come good in all four ties, although the rain interruption in Kochi two days ago had upset Dhoni’s calculations as the match got reduced to a 17-over affair midway through their innings.

It’s the bowling, however, which is the major concern of the visitors, who are languishing in the bottom half of the points table, as they have allowed the opposition batsmen to run riot, even when defending seemingly adequate totals.

In three matches out of four, the Super Kings have crossed the 150-run mark — winning their lung opener against Kolkata Knight Riders by only two runs after making 153, while losing to Valthaty’s amazing aggression at Mohali after having posted 188 for four against Kings XI Punjab.

But even while defending 183 against Bangalore at home in their third game of the tournament, the Super Kings allowed their rivals to rattle up 162, a clear sign that the bowling has not been up to the mark.

We have worked very hard on our fielding: Robin Singh

Against a team like Mumbai, with batting maestro Tendulkar in a sublime form and Ambati Rayudu, too, in red-hot touch, the Chennai bowlers need to step up their performance.

One of the reasons for Chennai’s mixed display has been the indifferent form of all-rounder Albie Morkel, who has not really done his job either with the bat or the ball. The fact that he was one of the four that the franchise retained ahead of the players’ auction, shows how important the South African is to their scheme of things.

Morkel has scored just 33 runs in four matches and taken 3 for 121, not the sort of figures the franchise would be looking forward from this talented Protean. Scott Styris’ presence could put more pressure on the South African.

With Australian Doug Bollinger back in the picture with his left-arm pace, the new ball attack with New Zealander Tim Southee has got some teeth, but it needs to be razor sharp against Tendulkar and company.

Chennai have relied more on their spinners. And even though R Ashwin, Suraj Randiv and Shadab Jakati have been quite good so far, they would have to be really on their toes against the hosts on Friday.

The Super Kings’ strength is their batting but they would have to deal with the unorthodox delivery style of Lasith Malinga and on-the-dot accuracy of Munaf Patel. One of the key factors would be how openers — Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey — deal with Malinga’s swinging toe-crushers initially.

Mumbai’s batting has clicked very well, barring the last game where the likes of Rohit Sharma made a heavy weather of chasing the modest target of 119 set by Pune Warriors, despite a fine platform laid through a half-century stand between Tendulkar and Rayudu.

“Our batting should have been a bit better. Ideally, we should have finished the match in the 17th or 18th over. There were a few hiccups in the end. We failed to play the big shots which could have helped us finish the match earlier,” the Mumbai skipper said after the stuttering victory over Pune.

Tendulkar has not had an adequate opening partner so far as both Davy Jacobs and James Franklin have not looked the part, and this is an area of concern for the senior cricketer.

The bowling has been adequate, if not spectacular, with Malinga and Munaf Patel doing a good job along with Harbhajan Singh, who missed the previous clash due to an injury.

Though Ali Murtaza has been hit for runs, he’s also taken wickets and Abu Nechim bowled well when given a chance against Pune in the absence of Harbhajan.

A little worry perhaps would be the lack of sufficient time in the middle for the likes of Kieron Pollard and Andrew Symonds, who remained unbeaten after a short stay against Pune Warriors on Wednesday.

But Pollard indicated after his team’s seven-wicket victory that when given the opportunity he would be ready.

“I won’t be pressing hard for a promotion (in the batting order). Out of the four games we have won three. In the third game we scored 180. The batsmen are on top. Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Ambati) Rayudu are doing the job for us at the top. When my time comes I will have to go and grasp it,” he said.

Teams (from):

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Andrew Symonds, Davy Jacobs, James Franklin, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Aditya Tare, Ali Murtaza, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pawan Suyal, R Sathish, Sarul Kanwar, Suryakumar Yadav, T Suman, Yuzvendra Singh Chahai.

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, G Bailey, Tim Southee, F du Plessis, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Joginder Sharma, Yo Mahesh, A Mukund, Wriddhiman Saha, Scott Styris, Sudeep Tyagi, K Vasudevadas, G Vignesh.