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In what looks like a mouth-watering contest, two batting line-ups in top form clash against each other as the Mumbai Indians take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. The Indians come on the back of two solid victories, having first survived a whirlwind Yusuf Pathan ton to triumph over the Rajasthan Royals before humiliating the Delhi Daredevils by 98 runs in their last game. Bangalore faltered at the start, losing away to Kolkata before notching up a brilliant chase to down the Kings XI Punjab and then routing the Rajasthan Royals batting line-up as they completed a 10-wicket win, thanks to a Praveen Kumar hat-trick.

Mumbai Indians:
Easily one of the best sides on show so far in the season, Mumbai has put on display a brand of fearless cricket never associated with them. Their batting has been sublime having twice notched up scores in excess of 200. What would have thrilled Sachin Tendulkar is that two lesser-known batsmen in Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu have done the bulk of the scoring; also explained by the fact that the West Indian duo of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were below the in-form local boys in the batting line-up against Delhi.

Tendulkar himself cracked a fine 63 against Delhi and looks in great nick and with the West Indians providing solidity to the lower middle order the batting line-up has the ability to give nightmares to the strongest of bowling sides. The bowling led by Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga, is in safe hands and with the return of Harbhajan from the opening game injury, has only gotten better. Bravo's arrival should add teeth to the pace attack while both Pollard and Sanath Jayasuriya can be handy part-timers.

While things overall look great for Sachin's side, fearlessness is their biggest strength and it remains to be seen if they can cling on to it as the tournament progresses. Historically, Mumbai has crumbled in pressure situations and it is therefore of utmost importance that they take every game as it comes and not put too much pressure on themselves.

(Read the match report of MI vs DD or MI vs. RR)

Royal Challengers Bangalore:
The batting order having tweaked for the better after the loss to the Knight Riders, resulted in it having been smooth sailing for the Challengers in their next two games. Orange cap holder Jacques Kallis has been the key man, with both Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa providing excellent company. The way Bangalore chased down Punjab's total in the second game gave glimpses of their superlative form in the last edition of the IPL, where Anil Kumble's men ended runners-up.

To go with the thus far unbeaten orange-cap holder, Bangalore also have the first hat-trick man in the IPL 2010 in Praveen Kumar. Kumar's hat-trick was instrumental in breaking the back of the Rajasthan innings and condemning the Royals to their third consecutive defeat. Vinay Kumar has also supported the frontline duo of Praveen and Dale Steyn well, while Kumble plays the role of the lone-spinner.

In both their wins though, the Bangalore middle order has remained untested. Big-hitters like Virat Kohli, Eoin Morgan and Mark Boucher are yet to make any sort of a contribution with the bat and that should be a worry. Steyn's relative ineffectiveness on Indian tracks also needs a long-term solution.

(Read the match report of BRC vs. RR or BRC vs. KXIP or KKR vs BRC)

Past Meetings:
The two sides have shared the spoils in the last two seasons with two wins each. The Challengers beat Mumbai in Mumbai by 5 wickets in 2008 before the Mumbai Indians avenged the loss at Bangalore in the reverse fixture by 9 wickets. In South Africa, Bangalore won the first bout by 9 wickets before Mumbai came back in the second, winning by 16 runs.

Likely XI's:
Mumbai Indians: Jayasuriya, Tendulkar (c), Tare, Tiwary, Rayudu, Pollard, Bravo, Sathish, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Malinga.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Pandey, Kallis, Uthappa, Kohli, Dravid, Morgan, Boucher, Praveen Kumar, Kumble (c), Steyn, Vinay Kumar.

Prediction:
T20 is a difficult game to predict, that too if the number 1 and 2 sides in the table are taking each other on. We would, however go with Mumbai's home advantage coupled with great form with both bat and ball and predict a close win for them.

Also Read:

Match Preview: Deccan Chargers vs. Kings XI Punjab

File Photograph Copyright: Gayatri Naik

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