Mumbai Indians face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last match of the second period of the Sports Pundit IPL Fantasy (SPIF), thus garnering a lot of importance for those hunting for the big weekly prize.
Mumbai is currently placed at the third spot, and amongst the batsman, it is safe to say that this has been because of the duo of Sachin Tendulkar and J.P. Duminy. In fact, the pitches in South Africa seem to have suited those batsmen who can adjust their game to be more circumspect at the beginning of the inning and then slowly start hitting out.
This is one reason why I shall continue having Tendulkar in my team. The other is quite simple, Tendulkar hasn’t had a couple of good games, which could mean that he is due for a big score next up. For those SPIFfers who have neither Duminy nor Tendulkar in their line-up, my advise wold be to get in Duminy because he can do a bit of bowling as well, and on these wickets he may end up scalping a batsman or two.
The bowling currently has Lasith Malinga at the second position on the charts, behind Yusuf Abdullah, and his bowling looks like he could be baying for more blood. Malinga is a good choice as a bowler, but then Zaheer’s previous game’s three-wicket haul makes him a suitable contender as well. Harbhajan Singh is bowling well and economically, but whether he will be able to pick wickets as regularly as the aforementioned duo remains to be seen.
On the other hand, Reolf van der Merwe from Bangalore looks to be making enough and more waves and should be picked. His batting has treated most bowlers with disdain, where as the bowling is good enough to be picking wickets. The other risk worth taking could be that of Jesse Ryder is out of form at the moment but given the fact that he opens – and Bangalore may not want to change a winning line-up – he could be the batsman to watch out for.