Semis scenario

Deccan v Bangalore at Nagpur
Apr 12, 2010 (20:00 local, 14:30 GMT)

Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai (BS)
Apr 13, 2010 (16:00 local, 10:30 GMT)

Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai
Apr 13, 2010 (20:00 local, 14:30 GMT)

This are the next 3 fixtures in the IPL circus this week.  Mumbai is through to the semis already.

Now there are 3 spots and 6 teams in the fray. Sanga’s men wont be good enough to play in semis, so they would be shooed away when they knock the semis door.  After Mumbai, there are 3 teams tied on 12 – RCB, Royals and Devils.

And 3 on 10 – Knight Riders, Chargers and Super Kinks.

Deccan and Bangalore play today. So if Bangalore win they are almost in to the semis. If Chargers win they step an inch close to the spot yet not there. They would be on 10 points.  Both teams would have 2 games after today, that means one of this 2 teams would go in.

Situation after today :

RCB 12 Deccan 12

RCB still remain in top 4 while Chargers would move on 4. Royals would drop out of 4 on their negative run rate.

RCB do not lose much but the Chargers gain a lot. Only if they win. If they lose, they are on the verge of kicked out.

Mumbai vs Delhi

Mumbai any day just for presence of one man : Tendulkar. If Delhi get world’s best Test opening pair fired they would pose a challenging threat to Mumbai. Mumbai if they win would go on 18.  No 1 spot sealed. If Delhi win they go on 14. Semis assured almost. If they lose they still remain on 12.  But in the given scenario they would still remain on 3 or 4.  They have a slight positive net run rate.

So after the 2 games the semis scenario is not yet very clear.

Chennai vs Kolkata :

Last time Chennai won but going by KKR’s pattern, they should win it easily.  Honestly speaking Chennai sucks in the fast bowling department. Who are their men ? Balaji, Morkel, Joginder and Sudeep Tyagi who would any day lose out to the men like Ganguly, Gayle and McCullum. 

Whoever wins goes on 12 and crowds the table.  KKR would have to win by large margin as they have –ve NRR. 

The semis picture is going to look hazy at least till next 2 days….