Can Chennai ground high-flying Mumbai?

Match facts

Sunday, April 25
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

	The biggest question on the eve of the final: Will Sachin Tendulkar play or not? © Indian Premier League
Related Links Analysis : All-round strength gives Mumbai the edge Matches: Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians at Mumbai Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: Chennai Super Kings | India | Mumbai Indians

Big Picture

Pitches have tired, outfields have grown barer during an unforgiving Indian summer, but for 45 days the players have braved sapping conditions, excruciating travel (made more excruciating by security concerns), IPL parties, inane interviews and columns, explosions outside the stadium just before a match, injuries, cramps, fines and reprimands to keep this league rolling. On the way some of them have played in the breathtaking environs of Dharamsala, many of them have put in special performances, some of them have announced themselves, some have shown aspects of their game others didn't know existed, some have found second winds. Two teams, though, have one final issue to settle before we move onto more pressing matters like the World Twenty20 and ascertaining how clean the IPL is.

The image of the third IPL, though, will remain MS Dhoni upper-cutting himself in the jaw like a pumped-up boxer, upon having hit a match-winning six from Dharamsala into McLeodganj. Nobody has seen Dhoni react so emotionally on a cricket field, and Dhoni has quite a body of work behind him to draw that cool, composed image from. And about a fortnight ago, when Dhoni's team was asphyxiating a Mumbai Indians chase in the merciless Chennai humidity, Sachin Tendulkar, short on fluids, retired hurt, saw what resembled a choke and came back to try and win what was then just another match for Mumbai, with their semi-final place not under much doubt. Both men, one perhaps India's greatest cricketer, one who has the makings of India's greatest captain, represent how much this means to their teams.

Form guide (most recent first)

Mumbai WLWWW
Chennai WWLWL

Team talk

There's no decision yet on whether the injured Tendulkar will play, but if he can hold the bat, expect him to open for Mumbai. "It's his call," was all their coach, Robin Singh, could offer. "If he is not available, we have our back-up plans." Kieron Pollard is fit. Mumbai will be tempted to think about Ali Murtaza ahead of Abhishek Nayar because of the nature of the pitch. In that light, JP Duminy weighs over Dwayne Bravo.

Mumbai (probable) 1 Sachin Tendulkar (capt.), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Saurabh Tiwary, 4 Ambati Rayudu (wk), 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Ali Murtaza/Abhishek Nayar, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Dilhara Fernando, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Lasith Malinga

On a turning pitch, Chennai have no reason to divert from the three-spinner attack.

Chennai (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 M Vijay, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 5 S Badrinath, 6 Albie Morkel, 7 S Anirudha, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Doug Bollinger, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Shadab Jakati

Previously…

Mumbai 3 Chennai 3
On a flat pitch at the Brabourne Stadium, Chennai failed to defend 180, but on a more difficult Chennai pitch, they defended 165 with aplomb.

In the spotlight

Law of averages says Matthew Hayden is due a single-handed match-winning blast. In an illustrious career, a Man-of-the-Match performance in a big tournament final is missing. In 12 innings since his Mongoose-charged 93, Hayden's top score has been 35, and his strike-rate has been 117.2. Neither Chennai nor Hayden expects this, and he will want to set things right.

Dhoni v Tendulkar Twenty20 games, if not won by a single-handed blasts, usually come down to captains, finals more so than others. These two captains also happen to be important batsmen of their line-ups. If Tendulkar has been remarkably consistent, setting up matches, Dhoni has been mercurial, retrieving lost matches. That holds true for their captaincy too.

Lasith Malinga and Zaheer Khan have been the understated stars of Mumbai's campaign. Of all teams of the IPL, you don't want to be needing 10 an over against Mumbai: these guys are mean, accurate and wily. It will be interesting to see how Dhoni, Hayden and Co. go against these yorker machines. They do tend to make a bit of a mockery of spinning tracks.

Prime numbers and trivia

• Suresh Raina, with 1318 runs to his name, has overtaken Adam Gilchrist as the leading scorer in all IPL matches. Tendulkar is fifth with 1122 runs.
• Raina also holds the record for most catches, 26, for a non-wicketkeeper.

Chatter

"We have been doing well with our fast bowlers, so how does it concern me?"
Mumbai coach Robin Singh is confident the pitch won't hamper their fast-bowlers-based attack
"It gives us a slight edge that Mumbai have never been in a final before, and we have."
S Badrinath looks to draw on the experience of having lost the final in the first IPL. He is never the one to try mindgames

1st Semi-Final: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians at Mumbai, Apr 21, 2010

Bangalore

Mumbai Indians

Live cricket score and commentary for Indian Premier League, 1st Semi-Final: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians at Mumbai, Apr 21, 2010

Match scheduled to begin at 20:00 local time (14:30 GMT)

Current time: 15:57 local, 10:27 GMT

	Royal Challengers Bangalore squad
A Kumble*, B Akhil, KP Appanna, MV Boucher†, R Dravid, D du Preez, SP Goswami†, JH Kallis, V Kohli, B Kumar, P Kumar, A Mithun, EJG Morgan, MK Pandey, KP Pietersen, SPD Smith, S Sriram, DW Steyn, LRPL Taylor, RV Uthappa, RE van der Merwe, R Vinay Kumar, CL White

	Mumbai Indians squad
SR Tendulkar*, AN Ahmed, DJ Bravo, S Dhawan, JP Duminy, CRD Fernando, Harbhajan Singh, ST Jayasuriya, Z Khan, DS Kulkarni, R McLaren, C Madan, I Malhotra, SL Malinga, AG Murtaza, GR Napier, AM Nayar, KA Pollard, AT Rayudu, R Sathish, KS Sahabuddin, R Shukla, AP Tare†, SS Tiwary

Harbhajan sizzles in Mumbai win

Mumbai Indians 172 for 7 (Harbhajan 49*, Tendulkar 55) beat Deccan Chargers131 (Sharma 45, Malinga 3-12, Zaheer 3-21, Harbhajan 3-31) by 41 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Harbhajan Singh's innings changed the game © Indian Premier League
Related Links Players/Officials: Harbhajan Singh | Sachin Tendulkar Matches: Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians at Mumbai Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: Deccan Chargers | India | Mumbai Indians

They say a Twenty20 match can be won in ten minutes of violent batting or inspired bowling. Harbhajan Singh needed only 18 balls when he batted, and just one delivery when he bowled, to win the game for Mumbai Indians. Double-strikes from RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha had reduced Mumbai to 119 for 7, but Harbhajan played a wickedly-entertaining cameo to charge his team to 172. He wasn't done yet and opened the bowling to remove Adam Gilchrist with his second delivery, dealing the most crippling blow to the Deccan Chargers chase.

The game changed in a Mumbai minute at the DY Patil Stadium. When Harbhajan entered in the 17th over Mumbai had lost the plot after a good start, but he led a stunning turnaround with an 18-ball 49. He hit a six and a four off Andrew Symonds in the 18th over but it was in the next, bowled by Kemar Roach, who until then had looked impressive, that he went berserk. Harbhajan started with a slapped four over extra cover before swinging merrily to the on side, including a shovelled six over square-leg, to plunder 19 runs. In the final over bowled by two bowlers - Jaskaran Singh was no-balled out of the innings after hurling two beamers and Rohit Sharma finished the over- Harbhajan crashed four boundaries, this time concentrating on the straight boundary.

Match Meter DC RP's double strike: Mumbai are 64 for 1 in 7.3 overs when RP Singh has Dwayne Bravo holing out to long-off. He strikes again in the same over, dismissing Saurabh Tiwary. Mumbai start to lose their way. MI The late blitz: Harbhajan Singh plunders Kemar Roach in the 19th over. Mumbai score 52 off the last three overs to reach 172. MI Harbhajan takes out Adam Gilchrist: Harbhajan struck with his second delivery, getting one to bounce and turn a little bit more. The edge was taken by an alert Sachin Tendulkar, who held on to a low catch to his right at first slip. MI Gibbs and Symonds fall: Gibbs had slashed a few boundaries but he fell, swatting a full toss from Zaheer Khan to cover point. Symonds, the other big Deccan hope, edged a lifting delivery from Lasith Malinga to third man. Deccan are 50 for 4 and don't recover. Advantage Honours even

Deccan needed a blitz from Gilchrist when they chased but he was undone by the combo of Harbhajan and Sachin Tendulkar. He edged an attempted cut low to the right of first slip where Tendulkar held on to a sharp one-handed catch. Herschelle Gibbs blasted a few boundaries but he fell, swatting a full toss from Zaheer Khan to cover point, and when Lasith Malinga induced Andrew Symonds to slash a short delivery to third man, the game was all but over.

Rohit Sharma tried valiantly with an attacking knock but Harbhajan ensured that he didn't get much support by picking up two more middle-order wickets. Zaheer returned in the 17th over to york Rohit and terminate the chase.

Until Harbhajan's adventure with the bat, it was Deccan who had held all the cards. Mumbai had reached 63 in seven overs, with the well-settled Tendulkar and Dwayne Bravo looking in roaring form, and looked set for a big score before it started to unravel for them. It was RP Singh who triggered the slide with a double strike in the eighth over. Until then, he was struggling to keep the batsmen quiet as Tendulkar and Bravo kept driving him to the boundary, but he struck twice in succession to remove Bravo and Saurabh Tiwary. They weren't wicket-taking balls - Bravo holed out to long-off and Tiwary edged a wide one - but the blows pushed Mumbai on the back foot.

Tendulkar slowed down, looking for someone to stay with him, and Ojha sparkled with a teasing spell of left-arm spin. The runs came in a trickle and Ambati Rayudu, looking to break free, was done in by a beauty: Rayudu was lured out of his crease by a flighted delivery that dipped rapidly before spinning past the bat for an easy stumping opportunity. Ojha proceeded to apply more pressure with deliveries that turned and bounced. R Sathish was his next victim, edging the sweep to backward square-leg and, when Kieron Pollard fell top-edging a pull off Jaskaran, Mumbai were wobbling at 93 for 5 in 13.1 overs.

It seemed, at that juncture, that only Tendulkar could save the day for Mumbai but he fell off the first ball after the second time out, edging a pull against RP Singh. Just when you thought Deccan had done it, Harbhajan decided to seize the day with a devastating knock.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

India v Australia, 7th ODI, Mumbai

Match facts

Wednesday, November 11
Start time 14.30 local time (09.00GMT)

Big Picture

	India have struggled to counter Doug Bolinger's pinpoint accuracy © Getty Images
Related Links News : 5-2 sounds a lot better than 4-3 - Ponting Players/Officials: Doug Bollinger | Sachin Tendulkar Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of India Teams: Australia | India

For India, it's a bleak and depressing one. Three successive losses have cost them the series against a patchwork-quilt Australian side. Despite an appalling injury list, Australia have managed to hold their nerve at key moments. India have lapsed back into 1990s mode, with stellar individual performances like Sachin Tendulkar's 175 in Hyderabad expected to paper over collective weakness. That hasn't happened, and the pre-series hype of going for the No.1 ranking now sounds pathetic.

For the second series in a row at home, they head to Mumbai, the heartland of Indian cricket, with the cause hopelessly lost. Back in 2007, Zaheer Khan and Murali Kartik pulled off a late show to give the scoreline (4-2) a slightly more respectable look, and that's as much as India can aspire to at the DY Patil Stadium. As for Australia, having won the Champions Trophy and now swatting aside the challenge of one of their big rivals away from home, this is a happy time, an occasion to revel in the success of a system that can produce stand-ins like Doug Bollinger and Clint McKay. Even with half the first team back home nursing injuries and niggles, they've been far too good.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia -WWWLL
India - LLLWW

Watch out for...

Sachin Tendulkar: That dazzling century at Hyderabad aside, he has contributed just 100 in five innings. This, though, is a special game, the first time he'll be playing in front of his home crowd since the terror attacks in Mumbai a year ago. Some of his greatest innings against Australia have come in Mumbai (twin fifties in the Test in 2001, and 90 in the World Cup of 1996), but they never resulted in Indian wins. He'll be desperate to change that.

Doug Bollinger: A generation ago, Brett Schultz's left-arm pace caused India immense discomfiture on a tour of South Africa. Bollinger, who's as quick and more accurate, has had a similar impact since his introduction into this series, taking nine wickets at 19.33. The caught-and-bowled dismissal of Tendulkar was the big moment in the six-wicket romp in Guwahati, and there should certainly be enough bounce at the Navi Mumbai venue to keep him interested.

Team news

India have to make a choice. Do they opt to give the fringe players a chance, or do they focus on the victory that would claw back some pride? Had the series been won rather than lost, Sudeep Tyagi and Amit Mishra would certainly have been given outings. Mishra could yet play in place of Ravindra Jadeja, but Virat Kohli is unlikely to get a game, given how the frontline batsmen have struggled at times. Ishant Sharma could make a return with the Test series against Sri Lanka now just four days away.

India: (probable) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 Harbhajan Singh, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra.

With Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson flying home on Tuesday night to get some rest ahead of the upcoming home season, Australia are certain to give one-day debuts to Andrew McDonald and Burt Cockley. There could also be an opportunity for Jon Holland, the left-arm spinner who has watched from the sidelines, while Nathan Hauritz has been the most economical bowler in the series.

Australia: (probable) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Adam Voges, Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Cameron White, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Andrew McDonald, 7 Graham Manou (wk), 8 Clint McKay, 9 Jon Holland, 10 Doug Bollinger, 11 Burt Cockley.

Pitch and conditions

The DY Patil Stadium can seat 55,000 and has one of the best facilities in the country. Even the square was prepared with the help of 200 tonnes of soil flown in from South Africa. There should be enough pace and bounce to keep the quick bowlers interested, though no one can be certain how it will play given that it's the first international match at the venue. During the IPL final in 2008, the slow bowlers had some joy, and the batsmen also enjoyed an outfield where the ball raced to the ropes.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow and the overcast conditions should further encourage the seamers. India's practice session on the eve of the game was cancelled due to persistent showers.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have won two of the three one-day matches they've played in Mumbai. The loss came in the dead rubber in 2007.
• Michael Hussey averages 104.33 in the series and is the only batsman on either side with more than 300 runs.
• The top six for Australia have averaged 42.96 in the series so far, as opposed to India's 34.70

Quotes

"Even though the series is won, it's not as if we're going to leave everyone out now and not worry too much about the last game. We feel we've started something here with this group, not only here but since the one day series in England, we've started to get a really good feeling around the group and I don't want to abandon that or let that go. It'd be nice to finish off on a winning note."
Ricky Ponting doesn't want to lose that winning feeling.

"We haven't backed the opportunities that we have got. A majority of the batsmen haven't contributed at the same time."
MS Dhoni sums up India's big problem in the series.

Dileep Premachandran is an associate editor at Cricinfo

IPL Latest Team Standings

MP W L NR RR P

Hyderabad 6 4 2 0 +0.71 8

Delhi 6 4 2 0 + 0.08 8s

Mumbai 6 3 2 1 +1.05 7

Chennai 7 3 3 1 +0.94 7

Rajasthan 7 3 3 1 -1.03 7

Punjab 6 3 3 0 +0.10 6

Bangalore 7 3 4 0 -0.33 6

Kolkata 7 1 5 1 -1.39 3

Here is the updated and latest IPL teams teams standing.