With one semi final played and second just few hours away, Take a look at the magic of numbers in the T20 league:
1 - Number of wickets that have fallen on the first ball of an innings. There was NO first-ball sixes, but nine fours came off the first balls!
3 - Three-in-threes, or hat-tricks. L Balaji, Amit Mishra and Makhaya Ntini were the three to achieve the feat, two of which came in the final over of a match, and two for the Chennai. Chennai also performed a team hat-trick in their final league game against Hyderabad.
6 - The number of hundreds in the tournament, but unfortunately none was scored by an Indian batsman. Four centuries came off bats of left-handers - Michael Hussey, Adam Gilchrist, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Marsh. The righties were topped by Brendon McCullum and Andrew Symonds.
8.02 - The Rajasthan have been the best bowling unit, conceding 8.02 runs per over. Kolkata are next with 8.05, while the Hyderabad have been the most profligate, conceding 8.70 runs per over, marginally more the Chennai’s 8.65.
9.05 - Punjab’s run-rate in the tournament was the best among all teams. Rajasthan are second with a run-rate of 8.72, fractions ahead of Delhi’s 8.69. Bangalore is the worst with 7.43.
10 - Sohail Tanvir has toyed around with opposition batsmen during the tournament, taking a wicket every ten deliveries, and his 21 wickets have cost just ten runs each. Tanvir now has the best bowling figures in Twenty20 matches [6 for 14], and the best average, economy-rate [5.97] and strike-rate in the IPL [among bowlers to have delivered at least ten overs].
11 - Tanvir has taken two hauls of four or more wickets in an innings, out of the 11 in the tournament. Nine other bowlers managed one, while Tanvir, and hat-trick heroes Balaji and Mishra are the only bowlers with five-fours.
Add 0.12 to the 10, and you arrive at Shahid Afridi’s batting average in the IPL. While fellow Pakistani Tanvir may be the toast of this tournament, the Player of the Tournament at the World Twenty20 last year has had one to forget.

16- The numbers of maidens bowled in the tournament. Also, the number of wickets that have fallen on the final ball of an innings.
19 - Partnerships of a hundred or more, of which Delhi have five, Rajasthan four, three each for Punjab and Hyderabad, Kolkata two, one a piece for Chennai and Mumbai, and none for Bangalore.
20 - The number of sixes conceded by Piyush Chawla, while four other bowlers, including fellow leg spinner Shane Warne, have given away 16. However, with 17 wickets each, the two find themselves among the top five wicket-takers.
31 - He’s nearly 39, but Sanath Jayasuriya’s wrists and shoulders were still strong enough to clear the boundaries 31 times, the highest for any batsman so far. Inverse 31, and you get the most sixes hit in an innings, 13 by Brendon McCullum.
33.88 - Left is right. Left-hand batsmen average a good 11 more runs than their right-hand counterparts, who manage just 22.69. However, that stat is obviously influenced by the fact that quite a few tail enders are right-handers.
36.28 - The percentage of dot-balls bowled. Rajasthan have bowled the most number of dot-balls - 647 - while Delhi has played out the least - 451.
46.56 - The average score at the end of a Power play, given the average run-rate of 7.76. With Shaun Marsh dominating at the top, Punjab have scored 8.79 per over in that period [averaging nearly 50 runs per wicket], marginally ahead of the 8.76 Delhi’s dominant top order have managed and way higher than Bangalore’s 6.50. Mumbai have given away just 7.09 per over in the Power play, while Chennai’s 8.25 in the most expensive.
47 - The number of free-hits, but batsmen have managed only 93 runs off them. Only four have been hit for six, while eight have been carted for four. Yomahesh leads the pack having bowled five free-hits, conceding 17.
50 - The runs teams have scored, on an average, in the last five overs. Kolkata have done marginally better, scoring 54, while Delhi managed approximately 46. Hyderabad has conceded nearly 57 on an average, while the rest of the teams hover near or below 50.
74.12 - The average for Shaun Marsh, who tops the batting charts with 593 runs. Among batsmen with over 400 runs, Graeme Smith comes next, averaging 52. Marsh has six fifty-plus scores from ten innings; Gautam Gambhir has five from 13.
204.34 - Brendon McCullum’s strike rate in the league. He is the only batsman in the tournament [among those with at least 50 runs] to have scored at more than two runs per ball.
258 - The number of sixes hit in the V between mid-on and mid-off, compared to 323 fours - a good indication that batsmen have been able to clear the boundaries with ease.
447 - The highest match aggregate, scored by Chennai and Punjab in the second game of the tournament.
Source: Cricinfo.com

MUMBAI: Repeated boundaries and sixes coming easily, cheering crowds and all the players in form, what can be a better delight to a cricket fan? Last evening saw such a perfect match at Wankhede stadium. In a thrilling environment Rajasthan entered Final of the T20 league.

This was a match full of excitement when passions were at their peak. Captain Shane Warne came with a fabulous game plan fully laden with good leadership skills. Shane Watson the man of the match, (three for 10) rose to the occasion by taking advantage of the batsmen’s pressure. All the leading batsmen of Delhi like Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhawan were flattened within six overs. All these players were victims of Watson.

This was the perfect team work on Rajasthan’s side so just one more perfect match is needed to win the inaugural title. Watson picked up his fourth man of the match award of the competition.

The purple cap on Sohail Tanvir’s head was a mark of respect for league’s highest wicket-taker. This time too, the Pakistani came forward with good bowling and fielding skills. He took a stunning catch on the fence that sent back danger man Virender Sehwag. Later Sehwag and his team crumbled in 16.1 overs for 87 runs, chasing down 192 for nine in 20 overs.

Gambhir failed to perform as Watson sent him back at 11 runs. Taking these early and crucial wickets proved very helpful for the team. Then it was turn of Dhawan to succumb in front of Watson at 5 runs.

Tiwary met with worse fate and went back on duck off Patel. Some good shots came from the bat of Dilshan but then Warne came into the action and took his wicket at 33 runs. The later performances by Karthik (10), Maharoof (6), A. Mishra (2), Yomahesh (3), M. Asif (3), McGrath (4) could not save Delhi from this humiliating defeat.

Earlier it was predicted that the chasing will be easier on Wankhede pitch. But it proved otherwise. Sehwag won the toss and opted to field first. Sri Lankan medium-pacer Farveez Maharoof got three wickets for 34. Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra got two wickets for 37. But even then the bowling side could not do much in time to control the splash of sixes and fours from the Rajasthani bats.

G. Smith looked very aggressive and made fast 25 runs but in haste, his catch was taken by Dhawan off Maharoof. But this initial jolt did not affect Rajasthan. S. Asnodkar made striking hits and 39 runs before he was out off Maharoof.

S. Tanvir came to bat at number three but soon went back to the pavilion at 5 runs off Maharoof. Watson was incredible with his 52 off 25 balls only. This score was laden with excellent fours and sixes. Pathan also played well and acted like a strong support for the team. He contributed crucial 45 runs off 21 balls. R. Jadeja was out off Yomahesh at 7. S. Warne was sent at duck off Yomahesh. M. Rawat was out at 2.

So Rajasthan posted 192 in 20 overs that proved invincible. All the batsmen played so much in style that bowling legends like McGrath appeared helpless. McGrath failed to make any impression in a three-over spell, conceding 22 runs. This way the Delhi team came down like a house of cards and Rajasthan made a royal entry in the final of T20 league!

MUMBAI: Today’s semi final between Rajasthan and Delhi is nothing short of a battle between the two sides. Winning in the league matches has become a sort of habit for Rajasthan. Today too Rajasthan may seem stronger to most of the fans!

It has won majestically 11 out of the 14 matches. Rajasthan will put in the best effort to continue their dream sequence! Delhi, on the other hand, will surely feel the heat today in front of a mighty opponent.

Delhi managed to grab the last spot in the knock-out stage, so will try hard to win this crucial match today. The competition has reached its top with both the teams gearing up for today’s duel. A capacity crowd is expected to witness this carnival of Cricket. Both the teams possess enough firepower to outperform each other.

In a “goodwill gesture” the ticket prices that were recently raised have been slashed. Rajasthan, who have grown steadily stronger with every match, will try to continue their dream run.

Delhi team can not be declared the underdog because this team has beaten Rajasthan in a past match. Rajasthan began the league with a nine wicket loss to Delhi, but won the next five matches in a row.

Later Mumbai defeated Warne’s team in the seventh game by seven wickets. After this match Rajasthan bounced back to win six consecutive games. But in both the lost matches Rajasthan was playing away from the home ground, today too the team will be playing away so nothing can be predicted how the team will perform today! No one can even guess the pressure that will be mounted on both the teams.

Warne sat out of the concluding game against Punjab in which the Rajasthan lost but today Warne is in again! The competitive instincts in the Aussie spin legend may turn the events today; moreover his player-handling skills have been the biggest highlight of the League.

Warne has been successful in infusing the confidence in even the youngest players of the team. This was proved by Neeraj Patel’s aggressive batting against Mumbai that led to the victory on the final ball. Opener Swapnil Asnodkar, Yusuf Pathan, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pace spearhead Sohail Tanvir all are the personifications of the coaching and captaincy of Warne.

But the Rajasthan team will have to take seriously the Delhi players like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik. Gambhir, who has led the run charts for the majority of the tournament, recently had his orange cap snatched by Shaun Marsh. Today he will try to cover up again to regain his title by scoring a century or so!

So the equally strong teams, working out the way to victory, will surely make Friday’s semifinal captivating. Rajasthan has the privilege of having Pakistan pace man Tanvir who is league’s best strike bowler with 21 wickets. Other bowlers like Shane Watson, Pathan and Jadeja can also prove helpful.

On batting side South African opener Graeme Smith is the biggest bet. Fire power is there in Asnodkar, Pathan and Watson as well. But their test will be how they perform in front of accurate bowlers like Glenn McGrath, Maharoof, Yomahesh and Amit Mishra.

McGrath remains a threat to Warne’s ambition. So the most interesting thing is two Aussie bowling legends are facing each other’s teams in India! That is why even the Australian media is also giving much space and coverage to the League being played far off the Aussie shores!

The teams (from): Rajasthan: Shane Warne (capt.), Swapnil Asnodkar, Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Mohd. Kaif, Mahesh Rawat, Ravindra Jadeja, Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Munaf Patel, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Dinesh Salunkhe, Neeraj Patel and Morne Morkel.

Delhi: Virender Sehwag (capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, A.B. de Villiers, Rajat Bhatia, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn McGrath, Mohd. Asif, Yomahesh, Pradeep Sangwan, Farveez Maharoof, Amit Mishra, Tillekaratne Dilshan, Manoj Tiwary, Brett Geeves and Shoaib Malik.

The heat is on in the ongoing T20 League, with the four teams ready to lock their horns on the ground. The atmosphere in ongoing matches is nothing short of the battle grounds! The maddening crowds with painted faces, hoisting flags and cheering for their teams show that cricket has left every thing far behind!

With the final phase of tournament knocking the doors, millions of viewers and spectators are still waiting for more action on the field. The second semifinal to be held at Mumbai between Punjab and Chennai promises to deliver all the expected entertainment and adrenaline rush!

Both the teams having played nearly the same number of games, have entered the semis arena after much struggle. This is especially true in the case of Chennai team. Punjab team has emerged as a surprise packet of the tournament so far.

After the initial defeats and set backs the Punjab team has gained such a momentum that the top team of Rajasthan appeared helpless in the last match against Punjab. The team has got an able captain in Yuvraj Singh.

The aggressive batsman had no considerable experience in being the captain but so far he has played and led the team very efficiently. He has been lucky in having some of the best cricketers in his team.

The aggressive blasting batsmen like Marsh, Hopes and Sangakkara are the best options one captain can have in his team. With the great thundering performances by these batsmen, Punjab has made its way to semifinals in a picture-perfect way!

Nobody expected the team Punjab to play out of their skins and upset the points table. This team has emerged as a team of real warriors, out to settle for nothing short of the title! The team has beaten quite a big names in the championship already and it looks better with every match.

Almost all the combinations that Yuvraj has tried out have worked so far. The team has maintained its momentum very efficiently. For the semis as well Punjab seems to be the favorite. Yuvraj has got ample help from Coach Tom Moody and Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene. This combination of experience and aggression has worked rather consistently in tight situations.

The team Chennai, on the other hand appears weaker as it has lesser points and is the fourth team in the semis. But still team can not be taken for granted as it has attacking batsmen like Raina, Fleming, Morkel and Dhoni.

All these players are capable of proving themselves the match winners. These players in past have won few matches single handedly for their team. The whole team will need to put in the best effort to fight the Punjabi Might.

A dedicated team effort is the only bet that can take the Chennai team to the final. Bowling side will have to try to restrict the Punjab batsmen so that they do not come into the form displayed in the last match against Rajasthan.

Otherwise it will be impossible to control the open wide mouths of bats of Yuvraj or Marsh! With a lot on the stake for both the teams, it’s the fans of the game who will get the maximum entertainment in this tough dual. Whosoever loses the match, it’s the game of cricket that is going to win at the end of the day!
Teams:
Chennai: M.S. Dhoni (capt.), Stephen Fleming, Muttiah Muralitharan, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina, L. Balaji, Parthiv Patel, Makhaya Ntini, Joginder Sharma, S. Badrinath, S. Vidyut, Manpreet Gony, S. Anirudha, P. Amarnath, Chamara Kapugedera, Arun Karthick, Abhinav Mukund.

Punjab: Yuvraj Singh (capt), Shaun Marsh, James Hopes, Kumar Sangakkara, Luke Pomersbach, Karan Goel, Mahela Jayawardene, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S. Sreesanth, V.R.V. Singh, Uday Kaul, Ramesh Powar, Gagandeep Singh and Tanmay Srivastava.

Now when the T20 league is heading towards the semifinals with its all pomp and show, the excitement and thrill of the league is almost double! Since its starting the league has been facing many controversies from cheer leaders’ dress code to the Bhaji slapping scandal! Many times rains played the spoilsport in crucial matches. But the spirit of the cricket was not dampened.

Many new records emerged from this breath taking tournament. The excellent batting and bowling spells in various matches has completely engulfed the whole nation. The T20 fever has grown stronger as the teams come to the battle arena of semis!

With millions of dollars invested, the final show will surely emerge as the complete entertainment and “Paisa Vasool” for all the spectators. In the first semi final Rajasthan is meeting Delhi. Both the teams are star studded with local and international players.

Both look strong as both the teams have outsmarted the other teams to reach this level. The first semi final will be held in Mumbai on Friday. All the roads in Mumbai will lead to the Wankhede stadium as the thousands of fans will throng the city to watch the live action.

Tickets for the Indian Premier League semifinal matches are going to cost the fans dear with the rates fixed between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 12,000. Even then a mass of crowd has already booked the tickets for the Karma yudh of cricket!

Interestingly the stage is set for the teams starring Australian bowling legends Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath to clash in the League semi-finals. With the higher stakes the teams now look like sworn enemies! In this extremely important match even a single delivery will have the stamina to change the course of the semis. Every ball will be critical and compelling.

To win the match the captains will need greater skill, courage, concentration and nerve. In this real test of competence of the teams, much pressure will be there on both the sides. On one hand Delhi is behind Rajasthan in points that will add pressure to the Delhi’s side. On the other hand the last night defeat of Rajasthan from Punjab will surely put the Warne & Co. under strain.

This enormous pressure has made it a battle of minds. So now it has turned into a case of ‘who blinks first’. So far the T20 has taken players to their limits. Even in this match players like Smith, Pathan, Warne and Tanvir will stretch themselves to the limits to win the semi.

Other than batting and bowling, the result will also depend on many crucial decisions like the field placements, shot selection, batting orders, bowling changes etc. All will influence the result of the semifinal.

Delhi team will try to get maximum benefit from the bats men like Gambhir, Sehwag and Dhawan. For Delhi’s bowling side much will depend on the success of bowlers like McGrath, Maharoof and Dilshan.

The team which assesses the pitch and adapts accordingly quickly will surely have an upper hand. As usual shrewd and active leadership of Warne will place the Rajasthan team in a better position. The bowling side will have to come up with every type of deliveries in their armory to conquer Delhi. With 22 points under their belt the Rajasthan team appears stronger but after last evening’s defeat, nothing can be predicted.

The teams:
Rajasthan (from): Shane Warne (captain), Swapnil Asnodkar, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Rajandra Jadeja, Siddharth Trivedi, Mahesh Rawat, Sohail Tanvir, Munaf Patel, Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Pankaj Singh, Taruwar Kohli, Dinesh Salunkhe, Graeme Smith.

Delhi: Virender Sehwag (capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, A.B. de Villiers, Rajat Bhatia, Shoaib Malik, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif, V. Yomahesh, Pradeep Sangwan, Farveez Maharoof, Mithun Manhas, Brett Geeves, Manoj Tiwary, Amit Mishra and Tillakaratne Dilshan

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Bangalore: The Bangalore crowds were quite disappointed after the match held yesterday. This was the last chance of Bangalore team to please the home crowds but the team missed this chance as well.

Earlier afternoon showers had nearly washed out the match. The delayed and 18 overs restricted match started with loud cheers from the crowds. The match was delayed by 90 minutes. Tendulkar opted to field on winning the toss. Tendulkar’s decision proved right as the Bangalore top-order was shaken badly.

Boucher made 18 runs and was soon out at a ball by Fernando. Fernando bowled so well that he claimed four wickets. His victims included Goswami (20), Misbah (0) and Vinay Kumar (23). Captain himself was under tremendous pressure and scored only 11 runs before he was sent back to the pavilion by Smith.

Smith also claimed another crucial wicket of White at 26 runs. Nehra came in action by getting the wicket of Kohli who had to go at duck. He was followed by Akhil, Lbw at a ball by Smith at just 5 runs. Praveen kumar was run out at 8 runs. Kumble also failed at duck so the score made was poor 122 in 18 overs.

Later Sachin and Jayasuriya came to bat and were welcomed by the huge cheers by the Bangalore crowds. Chasing Bangalore’s 122 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Mumbai performed far better than the home team. The Sri Lankan grabbed the limelight with a blazing 54 off 37 balls with four boundaries and four sixes.

The duo’s 96-run partnership ensured Mumbai’s nine-wicket victory in the last league match for both teams. The Sri Lankan punched sixes and fours all over the ground whenever the bowlers did even the slight mistake. Jayasuriya finally perished to Dale Steyn at 54 runs.

Tendulkar went 40 not out along with Uthappa not out at 19 runs. With these scores and 13 extras Mumbai won the match quite comfortably. Mumbai finished with 14 points while the home side stayed on eight. With this, the league innings of both the teams ended without any shinning examples. Finally Mumbai finished 5th in the League table by handing Bangalore their eighth defeat in the league.

The spectators enjoyed the splash of boundaries and sixes in the match between Punjab and Rajasthan, held in Mohali last evening. The match appeared more like watching the highlights with the large number of hits by the Punjab strikers. Both teams played well but Punjab outsmarted Rajasthan just before the semifinals.

Shaun Marsh performed outstandingly. This was Marsh’s best performance in the league. The left-hander blasted all corners of ground with his magnificent strokes. Thus came forward a scintillating century (115) off just 69 balls. This century was beautifully studded with 11 boundaries and seven sixes. Marsh won his fifth Man of the Match award from 10 appearances. He received a standing ovation not only from the crowd but also Warne.

His fierce onslaught got him the orange cap — awarded to the leading run-getter in league. With his wonderful innings Punjab moved towards victory with other contributions from James Hopes (51) and Yuvraj Singh (49). The team set up an invincible target of 221 for 2. The score eventually proved inaccessible for Rajasthan!

Shaun Marsh started the assault and did not give the bowlers any chance to settle down. He literally canned the Rajasthan bowlers. James Hopes also displayed aggressive batting and brought up a quick half century. The runs came in at a breakneck speed.

Rajasthan got some relief after Hopes fell for 51 after putting on 133 runs for the first wicket. Yuvraj Singh joined Marsh in doing the same kind of batting. Marsh raced to his hundred by hitting some towering sixes. Later Yuvraj rained sixes from his willow so well that it appeared he would repeat his record of six sixes.

He hit three sixes off the last three balls of Trivedi. He hit six sixes in all, scoring 49 off just 16 balls. The last ball run-out left him just a run short of the fastest half-century in the T20 league.

Rajasthan came to play without their key players like Shane Warne, Sohail Tanvir and Graeme Smith. Absence of these players cost the team dearly. Rajasthan came with a new captain and toothless attack.

Jaipur needed some spectacular performances to get to the target of 221, which was the highest score made by Punjab in league so far. Yusuf Pathan and Neeraj Patel played courageous knocks, but their efforts fell short of reaching the target. Eventually, Rajasthan team was restricted to 180 for 7, and went down by 41 runs.

In all Rajasthan hit eight sixes and 18 fours in its 180 for seven, in a reply to the 14 sixes and 20 boundaries by Punjab batsmen. Rajasthan opened with Mohammad Kaif and Neeraj Patel who failed to stay for long on pitch. Neeraj made 57 with 10 boundaries before he was out at ball by Chwala.

Kaif was out at 1 off Sreesanth. Yusuf Pathan made 39 and was out on ball by Hopes. Younis Khan made just 3 before being out off Pathan. Watson made 22 and was out off Chwala. Akmal and Rawat made 24 and 23 respectively. Saulunkhe made 6 runs and Pankaj Singh was 1 not out. This way the team scattered in 20 overs and failed to reach the target.

The crowds loved the big shots but certainly Warne will not like to see this runs feast from his rivals again! With this win the points of Punjab are 20 and Rajasthan still has 22 points.

MOHALI: Finally the Caravan of the T20 cricket is advancing towards the semis! What do you expect today on the crease? Well, a stadium packed to its capacity, cheering crowds, bursts of excitement and adrenaline rushes - all will be present in this real battle of bat and ball.

The two top teams – Rajasthan and Punjab will meet today in a spine-chilling match. Both the captains have been capable of maintaining the momentum of their teams. Today too both the sides will need their bowlers to bowl in the right areas. On the other hand the batsmen will be expected to build on good starts when the exciting match starts at Mohali today.

In the past 40 days, players from only these two teams have indeed lived up to the expectations. Both the teams are equally competent and tough. The teams continued to perform well even after securing their berths in the semi finals.

Therefore, when these two performing teams face-off at the PCA Stadium in their final league engagement today, top performances are expected from both the teams.

Interestingly, the two men – Yuvraj and Warne, whose ability to captain were not proven, have led their respective teams to these comfortable positions in the league.

On one side is the able experienced Warne who has succeeded in bringing out the best out of some of the players of his team, on the other hand is energetic Yuvraj leading his team with the active help from Coach Tom Moody and Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene.

The unique experiments in the bowling-order conducted by Warne and excellent batting by Pathan, Smith and Asnodkar have so far proved beneficial for the team. Moreover the unknown faces of this team have stood tall every time the big guns of this team failed.

On the other hand, Yuvraj has got some of the top players of world in his team like Jayawardene, Marsh, Sangakkara and Hopes.
These two top teams started their campaigns in league with initial defeats. Then the teams met face-to-face at Jaipur where Shane Watson scripted the first win for the Rajasthan team. Since then, the things have been on the upswing for both sides.

In last league match today, Punjab will surely try to avenge the loss before its home crowd. On the other side Rajasthan will also try to enter the knock-out stage with a win. Far from any prediction, this match will be full of entertainment and full “PAISA VASOOL” for all the spectators!

The teams (from):
Punjab: Yuvraj Singh (Capt.), Shaun Marsh, James Hopes, Kumar Sangakkara, Luke Pomersbach, Karan Goel, Mahela Jayawardene, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S. Sreesanth, V.R.V. Singh, Uday Kaul, Ramesh Powar, Gagandeep Singh and Tanmay Srivastava.

Rajasthan: Shane Warne (Capt.), Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Rajendra Jadeja, Neeraj Patel, Siddharth Trivedi, Mahesh Rawat, Sohail Tanvir, Munaf Patel,Younis Khan, Kamran Akmal, Pankaj Singh, Taruwar Kohli and Dinesh Salunkhe.

Bangalore: The inaugural T20 league moves to the final stage of excitement where all the remaining teams will desperately fight for the title. The League caravan rolls from one stage to another providing tremendous entertainment and joy to millions of fans of this wonderful game.

In its more ripe stage, today there will be a match between Bangalore and Mumbai. Both the teams are already out of the semi finals. The match will be the last chance for Bangalore to please its fans. Same applies to Mumbai as well. The match between Bangalore and Mumbai at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium pits two teams that are eyeing victory just to save some pride.

Rahul Dravid’s team has been able to garner only eight points from 13 matches. The bitterest thing is that Team got only one win from six matches at home! The home crowd must be a dejected lot so today’s match gives a chance to the team to gladden the fans in their last performance.

This is the opportunity for the home side to finish its lackluster campaign with a victory and offer some cheer to the local fans. New hopes have been rekindled in the team with key local players like Vinay Kumar and B. Akhil belatedly chipping in. The last two victories have already ensured that Bangalore team would finish seventh in an eight-team league.

The batsmen of the team need to come up with consistent performance today. It will not be an easy walk against Mumbai which supports players like Jayasuriya and Tendulkar. On the bowling side, team has some experienced Pandits of the game but they will have to come up without pressure and with cool heads to conquer Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Mumbai has met some nerve-wracking losses especially the last one against Rajasthan. Chennai’s victory last evening, dashed the hopes of Mumbai who will play their last match today as they are now out of semi-final contention.

They will also be under pressure to win the match but still Mumbai looks as the favorite for today’s match. This is a team which has incredible experienced players in Tendulkar, Pollock and Jayasuriya. Team has the needed powerful attack in bowling side as well. The most interesting aspect will be how the crowd will react to local player Uthappa coming to the turf in Mumbai’s jersey.

Weather appears dicey today as on Tuesday afternoon, thundershowers washed out Bangalore’s practice session. So today too the weather may take the final call!
The teams (from):
Bangalore: Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Mark Boucher, Cameron White, Bharat Chipli, Abdur Razzak, Shreevats Goswami, Wasim Jaffer, Sunil Joshi, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble, Misbah-ul-Haq, Devraj Patil, Dale Steyn, B. Akhil, K.P. Appanna, J. Arun Kumar and Vinay Kumar.

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar (Capt.), Sanath Jayasuriya, Dominic Thornely, Robin Uthappa, Abhishek Nayar, Shaun Pollock, Dilhara Fernando, Yogesh Takawale, Dhaval Kulkarni, Rohan Raje, Ashish Nehra, Andre Nel, Dwayne Smith, Rajesh Pawar and Saurabh Tiwary.