Batting Giants battle for a spot in summit clash (Preview)

Never before has any t-20 tournament been as fickle as the ongoing champions league. Matches have been won from the hopeless situations, heroes have emerged from unknowns, champions sent packing and underdogs are ruling the roost.

Most of the matches have had last ball finishes making the tournament ever more exciting. The intensity of competitiveness has been such that semi-final line-up could be completed only on the final day of the group matches.

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s resurgence has meant that the IPL side became second team to qualify from group B along with English County side Somerset. The Challengers’ entry into the last four hasn’t been less than dramatic. It looked dead starting the tournament with two losses. But, their dynamic batting lineup made sure they make it to the knockout stages. A last ball six from Arun Karthik against South Australia Redbacks while chasing a mammoth 215 summed up Bangalore’s progress in the tournament.

Their opponents New South Wales haven’t done anything fancy. The Australian side has played some serious and thoughtful cricket and raised their game in all important game against defending champions Chennai to top Group A.

The first semi-final will see two of the most dynamic batting lineups fighting it out with each other. If Bangalore boast of marauding opening pair of Chris Gayle and T Dilshan, the NSW Blues’ Shane Watson and David Warner can be equally destructive. In Virat Kohli and Saurabh Tiwary, the IPL side has two very attacking middle order batters, the Australians possess Steven Smith and Moises Henriques to match the duo.

On a batting belter that Bangalore offers, both the batting units will become more dangerous. Not a good news for the bowlers though. Most of the bowlers in the tournament have got a stick from batsmen at this venue. Runs have galored and bowlers made to duck for cover.

Bangalore’s bowling lineup has proved to be their weak link. Barring their skipper and wily left arm spinner, Daniel Vettori others have failed to stop the run rot. Fast bowler Dirk Nannes hasn’t been at his best going for runs in every single game. The Blues can claim to have better bowling resources than their opponents. For they have young fast bowling sensation Patrick Cummins, accurate Stuart Clark and tight and mean left arm spinner in Steve O’Keefe.

Fielding is where the Simon Katich led side has definite edge over Bangalore. The Australians have many fresh and swift legs in the field capable of saving runs and making difficult catches look very easy. Bangalore need to up their game in the fielding department.

The home team will have jam packed Chinnaswamy stadium egging them up, though. And, they will have better know of the conditions to their advantage. However the big score, the defending has become virtually impossible at this ground. That makes toss an equally important activity.

In the world of Gayle’s, Dilshan’s, Warner’s, Watson’s and many other energetic batsmen, another run fest at Bangalore is on cards. With both teams coming into knock out stages with a stunning win under their belt, a cracking semi-final on Friday evening can’t be ruled out.

Bangalore Squad: Daniel Vettori (c), Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Kaif, Saurabh Tiwary, Sreenath Aravind, J Syed Mohammad, Arun Karthik (wk), Asad Pathan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Dirk Nannes, Raju Bhatkal.

New South Wales Squad: Stuart Clark, Patrick Cummins, Nathan Hauritz, Josh Hazelwood, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich (c), Nic Maddinson, Stephen O'Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith (wk), Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson.