Daijiworld Media Network
Mumbai, May 6 : After the horrors of the UAE, Mumbai had a happy homecoming outgunning Punjab to keep up in the tourney. Rohit's men will once again enjoy home comforts when they collide with Bangalore tonight. However, there are a few concerns over Zaheer's fitness while the perennial opening connundrum continues.
Bangalore, fueled by an AB special, have returned to their winning ways as well. Their bowling wears a more balanced outlook though with Mitchell Starc and Varun Aaron guaranteeing crucial breakthroughs. Meanwhile, former Mumbai leggie, Chahal has been quite a revelation for the Men in Red. If both these big-ticket teams play to potential, then a cracker of a contest is in store for us. Greetings and welcome to Game 27 of the Indian T20 League. Toss and team updates coming at you in a few minutes.
Kohli: 'We want to have a bowl first. It is a good deck. It will stay the same throughout. We are playing the same team. The last game was a wonderful game of cricket. It was truly magnificent to watch AB de Villiers from the outside. He is a world class player. Every guy in this team wants to win the game all by themselves. It does not pay off all the time. The guys have to be in form when the crunch time comes. It has been a wonderful 6 years with Bangalore. It is a proud moment for me (in reference to Kohli featuring in his 100th Indian T20 League match).'
Teams:
Bangalore (Playing XI): Chris Gayle, Parthiv Patel(w), Virat Kohli(c), Rilee Rossouw, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Mitchell Starc, Ashok Dinda, Varun Aaron, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal
Mumbai (Playing XI): Ben Dunk, Chidhambaram Gautam(w), Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma(c), Corey Anderson, Kieron Pollard, Aditya Tare, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Suyal, Jasprit Bumrah
Unfortunately, Zaheer has been ruled out of the Indian T20 League
Bangalore have won the toss and have opted to field
Match Preview:
Back to winning ways, defending champions Mumbai would look to exploit their home advantage once again but it won't easy as they face a formidable Bangalore in an Indian Premier League match.
Mumbai:
MUM witnessed a terrible outing in the UAE leg of the tournament as they returned winless. But back in the familiar territory, the Rohit Sharma-led side snapped their dismal five-match losing streak with a five-wicket win over table toppers Punjab on Saturday.
The stadium was a mini fortress for MUM which could not be breached in eight attempts last year and the title holders certainly enjoyed the home advantage against the Punjab franchise when they secured their first win after five losses, in the process snapping PUN's five-match winning streak.
It has been Mumbai's batting, more than their bowling, which had caused their slump in the tournament, but they would be encouraged by the collective batting performance in the last game. MUM is still trying to figure a solid pair at the top to give them a good start. They have tried a few combinations with skipper Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare, Michael Hussey, Ben Dunk and C M Gautam, but none has yielded the desired result. The middle-order that boasts of New Zealand's Corey Anderson and explosive West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard has looked strong in the last few games. Anderson, who holds the record for the fastest century in ODIs, found his touch against PUN and was adjudged man-of-the-match for his 25-ball 35. Pollard too has been in good form in the last two games with his blistering knock of 48-ball 78 against Hyderabad and an unbeaten breezy 12-ball 28 against PUN.
MUM's bowling attack comprising Lasith Malinga (9 wickets) and Zaheer Khan (5 wickets) has fared slightly better than their batting unit. However, a question mark looms large over Zaheer's availability for the match after he injured his shoulder in the previous game and left the field without completing an over. On the spin bowling front, MUM's hopes lie with the experienced Harbhajan Singh who scalped two wickets in the last game.
Bangalore:
BLR, on the other hand, would be equally eager to ensure a win and continue their momentum after their four-wicket win against Hyderabad, which ended their three-match losing streak.
BLR would take heart from the fact that they thrashed MUM by seven wickets in their last meeting at Dubai. In that match, BLR first dismissed MUM for a paltry 115 and then chased down the target with consummate ease in 17.3 overs.
It would be tall ask for MUM bowlers to restrict BLR's strong batting line-up which boasts of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers. Having missed BLR's first four matches due to a hamstring injury, Gayle is yet to fire in the tournament and the West Indian is due for an explosive knock. Skipper Kohli has appeared off-colour in the last couple of games and the 25-year-old, who failed to open his account against the same opponents in the first leg at UAE, would be itching to get some runs. Yuvraj has been getting decent knocks, but the flamboyant left-handed batsman would be eyeing a big one tomorrow. And there is de Villiers who produced one of the most sensational knocks against the Hyderabad as he smashed an unbeaten 89 from just 42 balls to single-handedly power BLR to a sensational four-wicket win.
BLR's bowling attack looked a balanced one with pacer Varun Aaron (10 wickets), Mitchell Starc (9 wickets) and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (7 wickets) up their ranks. Chahal has been the surprise package for BLR with his amazing abilities as a leg-spinner. Barring last night's match, he has picked up wickets in every game and has seven from five outings.
Team News:
Struggling to get the opening pair to click, Mumbai have been trying out many different combinations, don't be surprised if they send out a new pair against Bangalore.