Sunrisers could prove tricky for Royal Challengers

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2013, Hyderabad

Match facts

Sunday, April 7, 2013
Start time 20:00 (14:30 GMT)

 

    Can Dale Steyn keep Chris Gayle in check?

Heading into their first away match of IPL 2013, Royal Challengers Bangalore may start favourites but Sunrisers Hyderabad, with a victory as well in their opening game, showed they can be tough and determined opponents.

How formidable the Sunrisers’ challenge will be depends largely on their batting order. With the exception of Thisara Perera, nobody really managed to take charge of the innings after getting a start. Against Royal Challengers, they will be tested against a stronger bowling attack.

Chris Gayle is fit for Royal Challengers after limping through a good part of his match-winning innings in their first game. Gayle, again, had a huge influence on his team’s fortunes, but he could have done with more support during his unbeaten 92. He and Virat Kohli added 25 before Royal Challengers slipped to 80 for 5. Only KB Arun Karthik gave him company of any significance. Getting Gayle early offers Sunrisers’ bowlers a strong chance of containing Royal Challengers.

On Sunday, Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan will be up against Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma on a track that could likely play the way it did in the low-scorer between Sunrisers and Pune Warriors. Royal Challengers would have noted Steyn’s dominance in his first spell but playing Perera and Amit Mishra could prove just as challenging.

 

Players to watch

Amit Mishra, the second-highest wicket-taker in the IPL, has bowled fairly consistently through the IPLs. Against Warriors, he brought out his variations to stifle the batsmen. Royal Challengers have good players of spin in Dilshan and Virat Kohli and as the lead spinner in the side, Mishra will have to shoulder the responsibility of keeping the opposition in check. Tillakaratne Dilshan took the IPL by storm in 2009, scoring 418 runs for Delhi Daredevils. Since his shift to Royal Challengers, he’s been an important member of the line-up, scoring more than 500 runs in 20 games. He would no doubt have rued the shot that got him out against Mumbai Indians, but with two centuries and a half-century in his last five innings, Dilshan will be eager to put that start behind him and get going in IPL 2013.

 

Stats and trivia

• Royal Challengers have won just one out of their last four matches in Hyderabad. Their last victory in Hyderabad was in 2008.
• With three wickets in the last match against Mumbai Indians, R Vinay Kumar became the first Royal Challengers bowler to get to 50 wickets. He now has 52 wickets from 49 matches at an average of 26.07 for his side. His overall tally in the IPL is 64 wickets in 62 matches, which puts him among the top 10 wicket-takers of the tournament.

Quotes

“It was probably a more bowler-friendly wicket. It was not a free-flowing wicket. You could not just go there and play your shots. The ball was not quite coming onto the bat.” Dale Steyn on the track in the Sunrisers’ first game

Gayle, Vinay star in last-over thriller

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2013,Bangalore

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore 156 for 5 (Gayle 92*, Bumrah 3-32) beat Mumbai Indians 154 for 5 (Karthik 60, Vinay 3-27) by two runs

 

Another day in the office for Chris Gayle who powered an unbeaten 92

A nerveless last over from Vinay Kumar saw Royal Challengers Bangalore earn a dramatic two-run victory over Mumbai Indians at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, in the second match of IPL 2013. Mumbai arrived in the 20th over only three wickets down, and needing 10 runs for victory, but a double-strike from Vinay, early in the over, brought two new batsmen to the crease, and mounted real pressure on the visitors. Kieron Pollard got on strike for the first time, with eight runs needed and only two balls remaining and though he struck his first ball for a four, which would have been a six, but for one inch, he could only dig out the perfect yorker Vinay delivered on the last ball as far as long-on.

Royal Challengers’ victory had been set up earlier in the match by a Chris Gayle IPL classic. His unbeaten 92 from 58 balls helped his side overcome a pedestrian start, and launched them to 156 for 5. After Gayle, the next highest Royal Challengers score was 24, from Virat Kohli.

Gayle’s lone hand began with uncharacteristic reticence, as the Mumbai seam bowlers, led by Mitchell Johnson, found bounce and movement on the grassy Chinnaswamy Stadium surface that had compelled Ricky Ponting to bowl first. The six Powerplay overs saw the fall of two batsmen and yielded only 31 runs, with Gayle having made four of those, from 10 deliveries. In fact it was not until the ninth over that Gayle showed any aggressive intent, when he clipped Jasprit Bumrah through the leg side, before clearing his leg and drilling a full delivery into the sightscreen, next ball.

He rarely eased up then though, hitting 11 fours and five sixes in his innings, as his teammates continued to flounder around him. Pollard came in for conspicuous punishment in the 11th over, disappearing for 15, never to see the bowling crease again, while Munaf Patel‘s final over went for 16.

Mumbai’s reply was promising at the outset, as Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting – opening together for the first time – hit 50 runs together in just over seven overs. But despite that solid foundation, Mumbai’s top order was unable to lower the asking rate for much of their innings. Mumbai had Pollard padded up in the dugout, and while Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu allowed the pressure to escalate through a meandering approach during the middle overs, Pollard was not promoted up the order to induce the dash Mumbai required to win the match.

Karthik finally hit out in the 17th over, hitting three consecutive sixes and a four, to plunder 24 runs off Daniel Christian. Although that mini-surge and the ten-run over that followed tipped the match in favour of the visitors, who needed 17 from 12 balls, a terrific next to the last over from Jaydev Unadkat conceded only seven runs, yielding the floor to a thrilling finish.

Star-studded teams step into fray

Match facts

Thursday, April 4, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

Lasith Malinga will miss the opening game for Mumbai Indians

 

Big Picture

How loyalties and allegiances change in the IPL. Anil Kumble‘s association with Royal Challengers Bangalore was long and high-profile, as a player, captain, and mentor. He is known to have played a critical role in team strategy, selections, auction picks, all for a team representing his hometown. He is in the opposing camp now, hired by Mumbai Indians as their team mentor, and will have to plot against a side he helped strengthen over five seasons on his home ground.

An immediate problem to discuss for Kumble’s team is the absence of Lasith Malinga from the opening game due to injury. A prized asset of the Mumbai side, Malinga is still recovering from a sore back he suffered during the home series against Bangladesh. His replacement apart, Mumbai can compensate for that loss with runs from a power-packed batting line-up, though it’ll be interesting to see if Sachin Tendulkar and his opening partner [there were as many as eight last season] are able to keep their combination for a good part of the season.

The Royal Challengers are among the most passionately followed teams in the IPL and, for a tournament centred on the concept of city loyalties, Bangalore has lapped up its team like no other. But the title has proved elusive, despite twice having made the final. Led by Virat Kohli this season, Royal Challengers have as many as 15 seamers in their squad – though one of them, Zaheer Khan, is ruled out of the opening match with a side strain. It could be said that Kumble’s inputs may have made their job easier had he not switched over, but how they manage their staff is one of several potential challenges this season could throw up.

 

 

Players to watch

Is Glenn Maxwell worth a million dollars? He was the only million-dollar buy at the 2013 auction, then had a lacklustre Test series in India, and didn’t have a great World Twenty20 before he was bought. His purchase is a gamble, and it remains to be seen to what extent his all-round skills are able to prove, or undermine, the team’s decision.

From doing the moonwalk to gangnam style, classy celebrations to banter with opposition players, Chris Gayle has loosened up much since we first saw him in 1999 when he took on India in Toronto. His demeanour on the field aside, he has been a pivotal player for Royal Challengers with his explosive batting at the top, and has endeared himself to his fans, not just by treating them to airshows at the Chinnaswamy Stadium but winning their admiration despite giving them a bloody nose, literally, and landing them in hospital.

 

 

2012 head-to-head

Gayle was the architect of a big win over Mumbai last season at the Wankhede Stadium, as Royal Challengers eased home by nine wickets. Mumbai then won a close game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium less than a week later, with Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard guiding them to victory in a tight chase.

 

      Stats and trivia

• Malinga is among the few bowlers to have kept Gayle quiet in the IPL. R Ashwin is another. Malinga has bowled 39 balls to Gayle in the IPL, conceding 36 runs that included five fours. Against Ashwin, Gayle has scored at a run a ball in the IPL – 33 off 33.
• At the very least, Gayle could become the second-highest run-getter in all T20 cricket. He is now on 4804 runs, just 17 behind David Hussey. Brad Hodge leads the list with 5274.

 

 

Quotes

“We do have a lot of options to pick from, with as many as 11 specialist pacers and four seaming all-rounders. Of course there are a few players who are coming off injuries, like Daniel Vettori (ankle injury).”
Venkatesh Prasad, the Royal Challengers bowling coach

“We are all friends for the next few months. That’s one thing I have made very clear to the guys already. We are one. The Mumbai Indians are one.”
Ricky Ponting, the new Mumbai Indians captain, says the ‘Sydneygate’ incident is a thing of the past.

 

RCB look to fill gaps with seamers

 

 

	Virat Kohli will face his first real examination at captaincy

 

Big Picture

Two-time finalists and yet, no cup. Royal Challengers Bangalore have choked at the wrong moments and it must be frustrating for their supporters that a team with the likes of Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers – possibly the best T20 batsmen around – haven’t gone all the way. The feeling of unfulfilled promise was evident in 2012, when the team finished a disappointing fifth. They ended level on 17 points with Chennai Super Kings, who finished fourth in the league, but missed the playoffs because of a marginally inferior net run-rate after losing their last match to eighth-placed Deccan Chargers. In all, they won eight and lost seven out of 16 games, and had one washout. 

 

The over-dependence on overseas stars and lukewarm showing by the Indian players were the main reasons for their failure to make the playoffs. Gayle was the tournament’s top scorer (733), hit the most sixes (59) and scored 31% of the team’s runs. Virat Kohli, with 364 runs, was second for Royal Challengers. Zaheer Khan and Vinay Kumar failed to contain the runs consistently and the team rarely found the right combination.

A significant change ahead of this season is in the leadership. Kohli takes over as captain from Daniel Vettori and it will be an examination of his leadership skills, given he is touted to be India’s next captain. He has the backing of his coach Ray Jennings, who said he saw captaincy material in Kohli three years ago. With Vettori returning from injury – he has missed New Zealand’s recent commitments – it made sense for Royal Challengers to look for a new captain for the long haul.

The bowling needed attention after last year’s showing. At the February auction, the team went with the strategy of beefing up their seam reserves, buying seven fast bowlers – four specialists and three allrounders – four of them overseas picks. Their batting hasn’t been tinkered with. Zaheer hasn’t been feeling a million bucks over the last few months, down with fitness issues and dropped for the home Tests against Australia. Royal Challengers will need him to get his form and confidence back to lead the seam attack.

 

Key players

Royal Challengers’ overseas players are available throughout the tournament. Much will depend on Gayle, de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan to give electric starts. The expectations on Kohli will also increase. 

 

Big players in

Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik was bought outside the player auction and it could be a wise move by the team, given his experience. It’s his third IPL team, after Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors. He adds to the wealth of spin options, with Muttiah Muralitharan and Vettori in the mix. 

 

Big players out

Dirk Nannes was part of the squad last year but never got a game, due to the paucity of overseas slots. He is now the second-highest wicket-taker in T20s, after Alfonso Thomas. He was bought by Chennai Super Kings for $600,000, where he is likely to get more opportunities. 

 

Under the radar

It’s ironic that RP Singh should be considered ‘under the radar’, considering that he’s now third-highest wicket-taker in the IPL with 74 wickets. He was one of the several seamers bought in the auction ($400,000). He last played for India – out of the blue – in 2011 and hasn’t been in contention for a recall. His recent domestic form hasn’t been spectacular either, with five wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20. The coming IPL could spark a revival, if he is given the opportunities. 

 

Availability

De Villiers is likely to miss at least the opening game, due to his wedding. Cheteshwar Pujara is also doubtful for the opening games because of a finger injury sustained during the Australia Tests. S Aravind, the left-arm seamer, is out injured and he has been replaced by his Karnataka team-mate KL Rahul, a right-hand batsman. When Royal Challengers travel to Chennai, the Sri Lankans Muralitharan and Dilshan will be forced to sit out. Vettori, if picked to tour England, could be available only through April.