Deflated Mumbai look to avenge defeat

Match facts

Wednesday, May 28
Start time 16.00 (local), 10.30 (GMT)

	After a lacklustre start to the tournament, Anil Kumble has turned in two superb performances (file photo) © Getty Images

The Big Picture

A probable high-stakes contest has been nipped in the bud with the Chennai Super Kings edging out the Mumbai Indians in the semi-final race. The only remaining interest in the clash is whether a crestfallen Mumbai can avenge their home defeat against the Bangalore Royal Challengers, or if Rahul Dravid's team, who have won two on the trot, can bow out in high spirits after a turbulent campaign.

After squandering a winning position against the Rajasthan Royals through some shoddy fielding, Mumbai will have to prevent similar mistakes to avoid ending the tournament like they began: with four defeats.

Bangalore had swallowed the bitter pill long back and have recouped well to post two impressive wins, even though their batting is still unable to find any fluency. Luckily their bowlers have found some semblance of form, with Anil Kumble bowling a tight spell in the victory against Chennai and R Vinay Kumar sending back the Deccan Chargers' top order cheaply in the battle between the two bottom-placed sides.

Tournament position

Bangalore Royal Challengers: P13 W4 L9 NRR -1.161
Mumbai Indians: P13 W6 L7 NRR +0.531

Form (last five matches, most recent first)

Bangalore Royal Challengers: WWLLL
Mumbai Indians: LLLWW

Watch out for ...

Anil Kumble: After being listless in the initial stages of the tournament, Kumble has been instrumental in Bangalore's two recent wins - Man of the Match against Chennai and opening the bowling effectively against Deccan. Dravid might once again introduce him early and his duels with Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya could make for an exciting contest.

Robin Uthappa v Bangalore: Uthappa swears he has become a Mumbaikar. How Bangalore, his home town, responds could add spice to the encounter.

Team news

Unless there are injuries, Dravid could retain the winning combination from the previous game against Deccan.

Bangalore Royal Challengers (probable): 1 Wasim Jaffer, 2 Jacques Kallis, 3 Rahul Dravid (capt), 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Cameron White, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Shreevats Goswami (wk), 8 B Akhil, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 R Vinay Kumar

Mumbai might want to get back medium-pacer Dhawal Kulkarni for Manish Pandey, the middle-order batsman. Andre Nel could be the other change, coming in for Sri Lankan Dilhara Fernando, who choked in the final over against Rajasthan.

Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Sachin Tendulkar (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Dwayne Smith, 5 Shaun Pollock, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Yogesh Takawale (wk), 8 Dhawal Kulkarni, 9 Rohan Raje, 10 Andre Nel, 11 Ashish Nehra

Stats and trivia

Bangalore have struggled with their opening combination, and 37 is the most their openers have managed in an innings. The next-best - or next-worst - is Kolkata Knight Riders, whose highest first-wicket partnership has been 61.

Four of Mumbai's bowlers have taken exactly 11 wickets.

Quotes

"We just have to focus on our game."
Lalchand Rajput accepts Mumbai's fate ahead of their final game

"Because of the short format, it is tough to come back from mistakes. We made some mistakes in our earlier games and we could not come back."
R Vinay Kumar indicates Bangalore have learned from their defeats

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