Bangalore, Apr 5: Two of the most powerful sides are meeting today in a clash that promises to be a thriller with some of the best batsmen in the world, some of the best bowlers and of course, some of the most experienced cricketers lining up against each other.
We are of course talking about Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and others
MI vs RCB: Scorecard
Surely, whether it is the bat or the ball, these specialist players will deliver some of the most exciting cricket ever seen.
Ricky Ponting, who has been appointed captain of Mumbai Indians, has won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first.
Bowlers gave Mumbai Indians terrific start by first restricting RCB batsmen and then grabbing a wkt.
Mitchel Johnson bowls Dilshan. Bad shot by Dilshan cots him his off stump. A full-length delivery on off that Dilshan tries to hoick. However, he has failed to get in position, plays across the line but misses. The ball uproots off stump.
Virat Kohli joins Chris Gayle at the crease. Does not waste time, collars the bowler Munaf Patel and smashes him for a huge six.
The fireworks did not stop there, Virat next collared bowling of Jasprit Bumrah. He hit the hapless bowler for three consecutive boundaries before Bumrah disturbed Virat's focus and rhythm by asking for sawdust to be sprinkled on crease.
The next ball was pitched way outside off stump and came in a long way. Virat took a step forward looking to hit another big shot, but the ball hit his pad. And surprisingly, the umpire raised his finger and sent him back to pavilion for a quickfire 24 (14).
At the end of fifth over RCB are 28/2.
Chris Gayle finally arrives on the scene and who does he take to the cleaners? His own countryman Kieron Pollard. Gayle hits the tall strapping, big chested bowler for a four, six and four. The fault was Pollard's as he had appealed unsuccessfully for an LBW against Gayle off the first ball of the over - that made Gayle very angry indeed.
RCB are 74/3 at the end of the 11th over.
But the shoe was on the other foot as the RCB was not able to leverage a superb over by RCB as Daniel Christian departed in a tame fashion.
Bowler was Harbhajan Singh. It was simple catching practice. A ball that was pitched outside off, a little full, and Christian looks to flick it away from the front foot through mid-wicket. However, it floats into air and Mitchell Johnson takes a dolly catch. He departs after putting up a 44-run stand with Gayle. Bangalore again looks to be out of the game.
RCB is 75/4 in 11.4 overs.
Chris Gayle brings up his 50 in a serene manner off Harbhajan Singh. A fullish ball on middle stump that Gayle gets a thick inside edge. Ball trickles to square leg, allowing Gayle to take a single. Bhajji allows Karthik a single. Gayle smashes the next ball over mid-wicket.
This is Gayle's 34th T20 fifty.
Fittingly, Chris Gayle smashed the last ball of the RCB innings for a six off the bowling of Munaf Patel. Also, RCB scored 33 runs off the last 2 overs by Munaf.
Bangalore manages a much heftier 156/5 in the end. At one stage they would have been happy to have scored even 30 runs less.
Chris Gayle scored a magnificent 92 (58) not out with a stupendous strike rate of 158.62. He smashed 11 fours and five sixes.
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (capt), Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mayank Agarwal, Dilshan Christian, Karun Nair, KB Arun Karthik, R Vinay Kumar, Murali Kartik, Jaydev Unadkat, Murali Muralitharan.
Mumbai Indians: Ricky Ponting (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell Johnson, Harbhajan Singh, Jacob Oram, Munaf Patel.
Two teams that have shown promise but failed to deliver on big occasions are facing each other today - Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Mumbai Indians are the big-spending side and have the Champions League Twenty20 Trophy to show for all the money shelled out on acquiring star players. Besides, Mumbai have also been runners-up once and semifinalists twice in the previous IPL seasons.
With Ricky Ponting as captain this time, Mumbai would be hoping to lay their hands on the IPL trophy for the first time.
In the batting department, Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma would be looking to continue from where he left in the previous IPL where they amassed 333 and 433 runs respectively.
Senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar would open with either Dwayne Smith or James Franklin, both of whom can contribute to the team with their bowling as well.
Also Ponting, who has had a good outing in Australia's Big Bash and Shield Cricket tournaments since retiring from Test cricket, would be an asset at number three.
Dinesh Karthik would give solidity to the middle-order. Boasting of three prolific wicket-takers in the IPL so far -- Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, Pragyan Ojha and Munaf Patel -- Mumbai Indians look a well-balanced side.
However, spinners were a tad disappointing for them in IPL-5 with Harbhajan Singh hardly making any impact. He scalped six wickets in 17 matches, while Ojha claimed nine wickets in as many matches.
Mumbai, in fact, are rocked by a problem of plenty as only four international cricketers are allowed to play in a match. There is lot to choose from the international basket given the presence of "million dollar buy" Glen Maxwell, Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard, Jacob Oram, James Franklin and Malinga.
RCB, on the other hand, will take the field with the young and feisty Virat Kohli leading the team.
Known for being diffident in the initial stages of the IPL, RCB have, in their arsenal, swashbuckling characters like Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and A B de Villiers, who can turn the game on its head in a jiffy.
Kohli is not too far behind having been RCB's leading run-getter (1639), but their over-dependence on Gayle has been a nightmare for the team.
The West Indian, with 1341 runs, has won countless games single-handedly, but still has to come up good in big matches.
RCB's main worry is their bowling with Zaheer Khan making a comeback from a calf injury which he sustained in a Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat last year.
Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay will be waiting to give better performance. Caribbean speedster Ravi Rampaul along with senior pros like Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori and Murali Karthik, are expected to bolster RCB attack.
