This one’s going to be quite an exciting match. Both teams have been in fairly good touch. MI needs just a couple more wins to confirm their SF position, while CSK need a few more going. Mumbai looks like a complete team, with their batsmen and bowlers chipping in regularly in all their victories, while Chennai have rode on some brilliant individual performances of Murali Vijay to string together a run.
Bowl-O-Meter
MI : 3.5/5
Consistency seems to be their middle name. Between Malinga, ZaK, Bhajji, Mclaren, Pollard, Bravo, MI always seem to find the right man for the right time. Whether it’s getting the critical breakthrough, bowling that tight over, keeping things relatively quiet, or running through the tail, someone always seems to put their hands up. Backed by Sachin who has not shied away at trying out Bhajji with the new ball, MI bowlers have been on a roll.
No Changes expected.
CSK: 2/5
After scoring an astounding 240+ score, the CSK bowlers almost threatened to lose it for their team. Chennai have had the immediate benefit from the addition of Bollinger , who turned in a stunning spell admist that run feast in his very first match. Murali had an off day, and Morkel a nightmare, but they will be under pressure to raise their level against the table leaders. Jakati and Tyagi too got ripped apart by Watson and Ohja, but they’d be expected to retain their places. It is Morkel who disappoints immensely from a bowling standpoint. If I was part of the team management. I’d sit Morkel out, despite his destructive ability with the bat. I will explain why , in a bit.
Morkel sits out.
Bat-O-Meter
MI : 3/5
Sachin is in 2nd place in the highest run-getters list, and also has one of the best Strike rates, and shockingly, just 1 six in all games!! Incredible , isn’t it? Shikar Dhawan opens with him , and has been fairly successful. Rayudu and Tiwary have been very good indeed, while Pollard and Bravo have yet to shine. I’d still imagine that they won’t disturb the winning line up and continue in the same vein.
CSK: 3/5
Most of the 3 rating has been earned by the 1 man army of Murali Vijay. The manchild that is MV has been in phenomenal form for the last 3 games, with each innings getting progressively better. So much so that Hayden and the rest have been bystanders in his path of destruction. Where Chennai suffer is in their suspect middle order. Raina, Badri , MSD have been either inconsistent , or haven’t had much of a bat. Morkel can be a handful as he proved in the previous game, but such innings from him are few and far. I would bring in Mike Hussey to lend stability into the middle order.
Hussey in for Morkel
Match Ups
CSK Bowling vs MI Batting: Slight advantage MI
Bollinger and Murali are they key here, and their 8 overs will pretty much dictate the MI innings. Murali will be keen to teach a lesson or 2 to Tiwary and Rayudu, while Bollinger will be expected to keep Sachin quiet. The pressure is on Dhawan to up the tempo for MI and keep it going. MI also should try promoting Pollard up again to get some momentum.
CSK Batting vs MI bowling: EVEN
Hussey needs to get in for CSK. Facing and scoring against the likes of Malinga and Zak is NOT easy, and requires quite a bit of technique and staying power. Hussey is the man for that. Expecting Badri and friends to do it might not help. Sachin should try to open with Bhajji and Malinga against Haydos and Vijay. Vijay might find the slingy action of Malinga too hot to handle.
Predictions
The only way for CSK to win this game is to out-bat Mumbai. They will not be able to do it with the conventional approach. The humidity played a part against the RCB win, but MI have enough local players and youngsters who can cope all too well with it. Chepauk is also the Maestro’s lucky ground. This one will be a cracker. Vijay has 3 good innings , and is due for a failure. Hayden CSK will steal the W here
Chennai wins the toss and opts to bat.
1. Hussey in for Morkel – as predicted
2. Thussara in for Murali – WTF?!
3. Ashwin in for Anirudha – meh
MI:
Zak out due to injury niggle, Abu Nechim in . Just checked Cricinfo – he’s a bowler , also played in ICL.
Tight first over so far….
Vijay with a sweet shot ! 4
Bhajji vs Vijay. This shall be crucial, let’s see how the youngster handles this, tricky.
Interesting approach by MI, they’re pressurizing VIjay with the slip, worked so far.
Malinga unleashed on CSK.
im not going to make any prediction. Like to sit back and see how the game proceeds.
i think dhoni decided he wants to win just with a margin of 1 run.
@kanda! hahahah nice one man!
Have you done the run benefit analysis of the made shift keepers? How much runs they are worth after their bungles in keeping.
That’s quite a key point Kanda – the sub-keepers have actually been quite bad! But unfortunately, I haven’t been able to keep track of that.
Success for MI- Vijay out, as expected. Law of Averages caught up!
ur vijay prediction on money.
today should be Hayden’s day out. He also needs to catch up his law of average right.?
Definitely, he’s due a couple of big innings for sure.
Kanda – so will Pollard then 😉
sure, pollard is also due an innings or two. But he seems to content with cameos.
hi man, just dropped by to say hi, before i head to work,
dunno whether i’ll be able to log in from the office…
anyways, GO MUMBAI!!!!!
Hey Prafs!
Good to see you hear! I hope this one’s a good game bro. Have fun at work regardless! Catch you on later sometime, cheers mate!
hello prafs,
Read about you joining Neo criket. Congrats and all the best.
Any idea about this new guy?. I reckon he should be the first player from assam to feature at this kind of high profile tournament. His profile write up looks impressive. Another misguided soul.
Kanda – not sure if you knew – R. Satish who plays for MI actually represented Assam in the last Ranji season. He got dropped by TN because he played in the ICL.
His season best performance? A double century against TN!!
there is a small correction. He actually played last season for TN. He played for assam in 2003.
What i meant he must be the first regular player from assam to feature.
im planning to post on one topic, for that i need data about first 15 overs and last 5 overs run for all the matches. How to take it from cricinfo? any idea?
Kanda , i looked Cricinfo, but unfortunately , they don’t have a strong database for this IPL season yet, it’s been very basic at the team level, but not more fragmented. But I haven’t really looked deep yet. Check out the statguru section in there and see if you come up with anything??
i tried cricinfo but couldnt get any useful info but only at superficial level. If i need it i have to go match by match commentary. That will be a pretty tedious task.
another bouncer another raina out.
Raina doesnt like to go to pubs. Because he cant handle bouncers.
HAHAHAH , nice one dude! you’re on a roll today. Ok man, just heading home, will log in for the 2nd innings!
ok see you later.
Hayden and dhoni batting sensibly. still RR is over 8.5. They need to keep going to few more overs. You never know when csk implodes.
100 up and there goes a chance of dhoni
maling goes wide, rayudu by his standard done a good job.
there goes dhoni up in the smoke err sky..
oh oh… hayden also goes. A pretty big turnaround for MI. They will fancy their chances now.
When pollard bowls, u cannot pull hard..
oh no.. IPL commentary bug is catching me.
now two new batsman who have the knack of make the bowling look extraordinary.
CSK is slowly digging their hole with singles.
But i have to give it MI bowlers. They are bowling a disciplined line. No room to hit out.
Change of ball.. will it have any change of luck to CSK?
Atlast a boundary..
Malinga uproots the stump.. but for a run out chance
Badri tries his best to enliven the sleeping crowd with few boundaries
tiwari misses a simple chance.
I think he forgot to wash of the hair gel from his hand.
oh well.. badri shows how to reverse paddle sweep..
A fine ending for CSK. But im afraid they are short atleast by 15 runs.
Dhoni’s plan of batting out the opposition fails. So their bowlers epic task of defending will start sometime later. Bollinger and tyagi are the key. With Jakati being the dark horse.
A good positive start from MI. Dhawan batting well against Bollinger. Mr Bolli, u need to pitch short to indian players. If you pitch up expect to ball to be found in boundary.
tyagi bowls with a nice rhythm..its a pity he is not getting chance to play for india much.
Modi masthan is signing autographs. I want to know personally the people who are getting those signatures.
Back!
kanda , this one looks lime MI all the way!
bollinger is not finding the line which made him invincible last game. Is it anything to do with the batsman at the crease?
Nothing works for CSK. The batting was indifferent, and their bowling absolutely toothless again!
yes MI should finish off the game easily. But there is a chance for CSK to sneak in if they get 2 or 3 quick wickets.
Tendulkar looks very much tired. Look for a wicket now.
Kanda, without murali in, it’s going to be a tough ask in hte middle overs.
oh there goes the wicket no 1. thushara gets the break through.
But it’s Dhawan that goes. Like you said Kanda – they need 3 quick wickets and get the Windie boys in.
For MI, they need one set batsman going. the pitch looks slightly sluggish maybe difficult for new batsman to play rightaway.
I’m surprised why Murali had to sit out! He’d have been a perfect test to the younger MI batsmen!
sachin is not properly connecting few deliveries, maybe not in complete focus.
It seems albie injured,need to bring in thushara,so murali sits out.
Jakati needs to get a strike here for CSK.
@Kanda- did you find the stats on cricinfo dude? and what predictions for Arsenal vs Barca?
Barca on a scale of 55 to 45 ratio. With a possibility of a surprise from arsenal.
Cricinfo doesnt help me regarding stat.
I wrote the preview on here. I predicted a 2-1 barca result , I hope it comes true! The Messiah! 🙂
You follow world football too man? Favs ?
yes very much. Always like brazil followed by Argentina. But right now im hooked up with spain very much. Like to see the perennial underachievers winning this year.
A fan of brazil AND Argentina?! That’s preposterous man!! :-)) just kidding.
I used to be a brazil fan till I turned 12, after which I saw the truth and started falling in love with Argentina.
Spain are under-achievers, but since you mention that, how about the Oranje man? They are the biggest under-achievers I know of! What a tremendous waste of talent too!
orange?? i they were a good team some years back.. but i feel they regressed recently. But still has very good players, but maybe a surprice package this year??
The teams i very much hate are England and Italy.
horticulture show on..
hahaha, you dont like Tiwary much do you? 🙂
haa.. i was saying about the dew factor commentary.
Actually im indifferent towards to Tiwari. No like or dislike.
Sachin in seriuos trouble. I dont mind him sitting out a game or two. Anyways they are almost qualified for SF. Is tendulkar retiring hurt??
Yes he has. And Rayudu’s gone now.
Wonder what’s wrong with Tendulkar, the humidity getting onto him?
Have you noticed though how successful he always has been at Chepauk? What a love affair!
The equation changes for MI like CSK. Yes tendulkar and Chepauk are inseparable. Its his spritual home if u can call like that.
Bravo in now, some rebuilding needed for MI.
O oh ,bravo gone.
playing in chennai in the month of April and may is like asking someone to swim naked in arctic sea.
MI is getting DCed. Need polloard to fire.
Hope that is not the hole Pollard dug for himself.
Tiwary gone. MI in trouble.
oh well..tiwari..on his way out.
oh satish the boy from TN comes on.
What ARE MI doing?
And what kinda joke catch was that!!
thushara tried his best to spill the catch. What a lazy shot from pollard.
MI on a DCing business.
Satish GONE. RUN OUT SURELY . SUICIDE!
CSK is learning from their mistakes. Getting 2 fielders for a catch.U miss i catch. Oh what an idea sirji
hahaha! Kanda, you’ve got quite a few cheeky remarks in today man!
MI committing absolute hara kiri !
oh well.. MI cant able to take the chennai heat. Trying their best to leave as soon as possible.
If CSK allow Harbajhan singh to win this game for MI, i will be never watch a match Dhoni plays.
If Bhajji wins this for MI, he should stand for PM.
Ashwin snags out Mclaren. Will Sachin be back?
The little master is.
Haydos rumbles and tumbles on the field!
oh well.. even ashwin is getting wickets..you can imagine the level of DCing happening to MI.
Now the old man coming out of dug out to pull MI out of the mess.
Ok 5 overs 74 required. Tired tendulkar and TMK bajji, what are the odds?
God please, don’t let Harbhajan win this for MI. Anyone else but him.
oh well the mandatory drop from CSK.
Tamil ad on Sony Max! Never thought i’d see the day! :-))
Sachin gone. It’s all Bhajji now.
Tamil ad on Set Max?? oh what ad is that?
Actually I was so shocked to hear tamil that i almost forgot which ad! 🙂 It was a videocon ad- dubbed actually.
Bhajji making hay now.
Tendulkar goes back with a tired shot.. now bhajji to fly the MI flag..at half mast
the second CSK bolwer to be taken out for bowling 2 beamers. what a pity..
BOllinger back. I think he’s going to take Bhajji out now.
i would like Bollinger to attach bhajji with series of nasty short pitched balls. that will be an interesting contest/
Not before Bhajji absolutely KILLS that dolly of a delivery. Why do they feed him that length bal?
Bhajji hits 2 in a row! This is SICK. I can’t watch this. It hurts me to see this.
bhajji chooses the bat..to play bollinger.. and hits him for a six.. oh..no..not again.
i cant hear any more of his crap for winning a match.
it seems bolling is making up for his last match heroics..
Bhajji loves the length ball. Just don’t give him that crap to swing his arms. He’s actually a very good slogger. Just bowl it full and straight, as yorkish as possible!
There you go. Just stop feeding him that length shit!
oh man.. we are in a stage where bhajji is giving advice to a batsman about batting. oh what a fall for the mankind.
BOllinger start’s with a wide. silly silly silly. Don’t tell me he’s actually scared of Bhajji 😦
This reminds me, I must pull out all my predictions here. I think i’ve been doing fairly well, what say?!
a good restrictive over from raina. hope bolling doesnt mess up with this.
There you go. YOrker, and bhajji can’t do nothin!
Dhoni furious at Tyagi for fielding what was the other fielder’s call. Rightfully so.
Another yorker – no run from Bhajjilicious
After a slight loss form you have come back with a vengeance on your prediction. Now you are on a roll to get the highest honourary degree..B.A. Nostradamorius.
hahaha, thanks dude 🙂
Bollinger feeds him a nice length ball, and bhajji whacks it for a 6.
Bhajji improving his batting credentials at the cost of Bollinger.
Gets him out last ball. full and straight.
And why is Mrs Ambani smiling gleefully? Does she realize her team lost? Oh yea, regardless , they all get richer.
Bollinger extracts his revenge and CSK inflickst MI’s first away loss.
oh well.. how nice it is.. MI’s scorecard looks like good old days of 90s indian score card. Sachin and others.
Even my assessment is getting better. But long way to go.
ok then..c u in another live thread. Gonna watch the Barca match. Im going to sleep. Will be getting up with lots of hope.
bye.
Bye Kanda! Take care now! 🙂 and have good game!
Hello! How are we doing today? Chennai is definitely doin good 🙂
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