RCB take on resurgent Mumbai

Bangalore, May 14: Royal Challengers Bangalore’s campaign in the IPL?V?has been on an upswing after three successive victories, pushing them close to a berth in the play-offs.

They would, however, have to guard against complacency and hope the Law-of-Averages does not catch up with them when they run into an on-song Mumbai Indians at the M?Chinnaswamy stadium here on Monday.

The Harbhajan Singh-led team are third on the table currently, one behind second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders, grabbing 16 points from 13 matches with eight wins and five losses. The strengths and weaknesses of the squads too match up on some level, but RCB have won all three of their matches against sides from Maharashtra -- Indians and Pune Warriors -- this season, giving the hosts a certain psychological edge going into morrow’s game.

There are a few other significant factors that could shape RCB’s journey forward. After skipper Daniel Vettori rested himself, men in red and gold, led by Virat Kohli, have shown great promise. Vettori’s patchy form might not have been the only reason behind RCB not doing consistently well, but his self-imposed exile meant a place in the final eleven for a game-altering 40-year old.

Sri Lankan great Muralitharan has donned Bangalore colours in seven out of their 13 games and he has made a tangible impact. The highest wicket-taker in Test cricket is Royal Challengers’ second highest wicket-taker with 12 wickets, one wicket behind R?Vinay Kumar, who has played five games more, and the off-spin legend is also the most economical bowler for his team.

Muralitharan has given away a mere 170 runs in 28 overs at an economy of little-over six an over and has an amazing strike rate of 14.

Muralitharan was at his clinical best in the last three games, propelling RCB?to facile victories. Apart from Muralitharan, RCB?carries the Chris Gayle factor. Gayle’s pyrotechnics has been the centre of talk in all the T20 leagues he has played around the world, and his efforts for RCB?too were no exception. The Jamaican, who wears the Organge Cap for the top-scorer of the tournament at the moment, has scored 572 runs from 12 matches at 57.60 to carry RCB to strength. The Challengers’ middle-order seems to have found its range, and the form of AB?de Villiers has been quite encouraging as well.

With their batting and bowling unit striking the right chord, RCB?can look forward to another favourable result against the Mumbaikars, but that’s easier said than done. They have included Herschelle Gibbs in place of an out of sorts James Franklin, and the move fetched desired results as the Sohth African veteran made a fifty against the Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Saturday in Mumbai’s impressive win. Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma, who made a sparkling hundred against KKR, too have been in good rhythm, and add to it the form of Lasith Malinga.

The shaggy-haired Lankan has claimed 20 victims in ten matches, conceding just 216 runs at an 5.46. RCB had emerged comprehensive winner in their last meeting at the Wankhede Stadium a few days back, but the recent form of the Indians suggests a much more intense skirmish this time.

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.