Friday May 30, 2008
NEW DELHI (espnstar.com)- The momentum would be with Yuvraj Singh's Mohali as they clash head on against the MS Dhoni led Chennai at the Wankhede Stadium in the second IPL semi final on Saturday.
The Indian skipper, also in charge of Chennai, has had a topsy turvy ride in the tournament so far while his deputy Yuvraj has had the cushion of a star batting line up blazing in all its glory.
Shaun Marsh, the Australian southpaw has easily been the find of the IPL, with his deft drives, brutal cuts and an all round sound technique that has adjusted beautifully to the subcontinenet pitches. He wrested the Orange Cap from Gautam Gambhir within no time of his late arrival in India.
He has so far featured in only ten of the 14 league games Mohali have played, amassing a stupendous 593 runs.
The winners of tomorrow's tie take on the victors of tonight's semi final between Jaipur and Delhi, also to be played in front of a capacity Wankhede crowd.
Saturday's semi final would also pitch Mohali's dynamic batting line up against an impressive Chennai bowling attack, led by Makhaya Ntini and the best off spinner of all times, the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan. And of course MS Gony and L. Balaji have been exceptional.
However, Chennai are not going to find it funny, penetrating a batting line up, which includes besides Marsh, Kumara Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and the skipper Yuvraj, who looks like he has gone back to his six hitting spree. Their bowling too looks in good shape with Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar adding zing and variety to the attack. VRV Singh and Gagandeep Singh are a handful too.
Chennai do have the armoury to hurt Mohali but with Stephen Fleming leaving for New Zealand, the top order now seems a little fragile. But with Parthiv Patel, a hard hitting S Vidyut, Suresh Raina, Dhoni with his savage hitting power and Badrinath, the batting cannot go too wrong.
Then comes Albie Morkel, one of the most successful all rounders of the tournament who can turn on the screws with his aggressive batting, accurate seam up bowling and superp fielding. A complete package.
This has all the makings of a rivetting cricket match between two real quality sides, with Mohali holding the slight edge.
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