War of CricketKolkata meets Mumbai!
Kolkata and Mumbai are facing each other in an expected thriller today at the Wankhede stadium. Both the teams are high in spirits and confidence in the wake of recent victories. On one hand Shoaib Akhtar made a sizzling debut in last match of Kolkata, on the other side Jayasuriya was in electrifying form in the last match.
Both the players proved match winners for their respective teams! So it will be really interesting to see that how these experts of ball and bat perform today. Both the teams will try to get a psychological edge over the opponents with best possible efforts. The match is expected to be a real thriller full of splash of runs and large hits.
On Kolkata’s side main players in action will be Ganguly, Shoaib Akhtar, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Ashok Dinda. A mature partnership between any batsmen will be a good deal for the team. Akhtar will be under pressure to perform well again. Most of the fans are expecting a lot from him
The main trouble-makers for Akhtar may be Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. He will need to break this opening pair as if this partnership is developed then the match will slip away towards Mumbai!
The Lankan left-hander has acquired a turbulent form in last few matches. He will be a difficult player to handle for Kolkata. Whereas Tendulkar will need time to get into the flow, the other players like Robin Uthappa, Shaun Pollock, Abhishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo are all capable of match-winning knocks.
Mumbai’s bowling also appears promising with players like Pollock, Bravo, Kulkarni, Takawale and Nehra. Bravo’s varied line of attack and Ashish Nehra’s movement off the pitch will put the batsmen under pressure.
Kolkata also appears strong as it has combative players Hussey, left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, Saha and Shukla. Ganguly himself is in a good form. Both the teams need to win the match to secure a semi-final berth. Both captains need to silence the critics who are questioning their presence in T20. So it remains to be seen that which team proves more capable tonight.
The teams (from):
Kolkata: Saurav Ganguly (Capt.), Aakash Chopra, Salman Butt, David Hussey, Wriddhiman Saha, Ajit Agarkar, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Iqbal Abdullah, Murali Kartik, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, L.R. Shukla, M. Hafeez.
Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (Capt.), Sanath Jayasuriya, Robin Uthappa, Dominic Thornley, Abhishek Nayar, Shaun Pollock, Dwayne Bravo, Dhaval Kulkarni, Rohan Raje, Yogesh Takawale, Ashish Nehra, Saurabh Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Mussavir Khote.