The Royal Challengers Bangalore are through to the final of the Champions League T20 and there they will meet the winners of the Mumbai Indians versus Somerset second semi-final which will be played at Chennai.
Somerset should be favourites here. They have gone about their business stealthily, having had to go through the playoffs, but they have arrived well in the semi-finals. And a look at the way things have gone in the tournament and despite the obvious unpredictable nature of the format, Somerset should be able to put it across the Mumbai Indians.
Why? Here is what I think:
Mumbai Indians’ batting woes: The one team which has struggled throughout the Champions League T20 with issues surrounding the batting, it is the Mumbai Indians. They began with a collapse against the Super Kings and won only through the bat of tail-ender Lasith Malinga, aided by some poor effort in the field by their opposition. Then, they got to the target of 99 against the Trinidad and Tobago, off the last ball of the game, again abetted by a strange decision or two by the opposite captain.
And then it was against the New South Wales Blues, where they were bowled out for 100 in their 20 overs. While the pitch can be argued to be a slow one, the lack of ability with the bat is particularly pronounced in the middle of the innings, despite the presence of the likes of Pollard and Symonds.
Injury issues: Not that this is anything new, but while the injury problems were papered over in the initial games, in a knock-out match like this, it is difficult to not miss the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Munaf Patel. Instead, the side will have to make do with some of the rather inexperienced guys like T Suman, Ambati Rayadu – who hasn’t shown his past form – and even an Aiden Blizzard.
They will welcome back Suryakumar Yadav and he showed some form in an under-21 tournament, but to expect the youngster to translate that form against a well-drilled Somerset side would be expecting the stars.
The opposition: My point above, about Somerset being a well-drilled unit can only be exemplified by the fact that they have had a recent history of getting to finals of tournaments across the three formats of the game. The balance is good, and the return of some of the international stars will only make things more uncomfortable for the Mumbai Indians.
Craig Kieswetter’s half-century in the virtual quarter-finals against the Cobras was one of the most matured knocks one would see in this format of the game and with likes of Roelof van der Merwe, Peter Trego and Jos Buttler out there to add spice in the middle of the innings, Mumbai Indians could well be staring down the barrel.