For two points and bragging rights

It’s Delhi versus Bombay time. Delhi has wide roads, Bombay has local trains. Delhi is beautiful, Bombay has character.

It’s Delhi versus Bombay time. Delhi has wide roads, Bombay has local trains. Delhi is beautiful, Bombay has character. Bars in Delhi shut too early, some bars in Bombay don’t shut at all. Delhi has politics, Bombay has Bollywood. Delhi is clean, Bombay can get quite filthy. In Delhi, everything’s too far, in Bombay anything gets delivered at home. Delhi people dislike Bombay, Bombay people detest Delhi.

India’s biggest debate will be carried out on to the cricket field tomorrow: Sachin and Sanath or Viru and Gauti? Pidge or Polly?

Weather permitting, the final Indian Premier League bout at the Ferozeshah Kotla should be a cracker: In the red and black corner, it’s a do or die clash, while in the blue corner a win equals a ticket to the semi-finals.

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The Delhi Daredevils, after Thursday’s wash-out, have 11 points from 13 games. If they lose tomorrow, they will be knocked out of the tournament and the semi-finalists will be decided with the next six matches slipping into the realm of insignificance.

Even if they win, Sehwag will have to keep his fingers crossed, hoping one of Chennai or Mumbai lose the rest of their games.

Top of the pops

Gambhir and Sehwag have driven the Delhi bandwagon, while Mumbai batting problems were sorted the moment Sachin Tendulkar recovered from injury to join Sanath Jayasuriya at the top of the order.

They won’t have things easy though, for they will be up against two fast bowlers who have spent the last one month making a mockery of the theory that Twenty20 is a young man’s game. Glenn McGrath, age 38, and Shaun Pollock, four years younger, have been outstanding in their parsimony. The Australian beanpole has picked up 12 wickets while going at 6.08 runs an over, while Pollock has snared 11 victims at an economy rate of 6.25.

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Speaking ahead of the game, Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar admitted that curtailing Delhi’s rampant openers was on top of the think- tank’s minds. “We will be looking for early wickets as Delhi depend a lot on their opening pair,” he said, adding that his team were more dangerous now than when the two teams first met.

Poor start

The Mumbai Indians had started off disastrously, losing their first four games before going on a six-match streak that ended in a one-run loss to Mohali on Thursday.

“We didn’t start off very well. People had a lot of things to say about us, but we preferred to let our cricket do the talking. We took some time to figure out our strengths. I think the experience factor was lacking in the top-order and Shaun and Sanath had too much responsibility on their shoulders. Now that I’m back, we share the responsibility.”

Unlike the Mumbai side, Delhi started off with a bang, winning four of their first five games, before slipping into the bad habit of losing close matches.

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If they go down tomorrow, they will have only themselves to blame. They threw away games they should have won against Chennai and Mohali at home, with the disaster engineered by Shoaib Akhtar in Kolkata being another unforgettable blip.

With everything to lose, they have more than pride to play for tomorrow. Two points and bragging rights for future Delhi versus Bombay debates.

Probable XI

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (C), AB de Villiers, Shikhar Dhawan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn McGrath, Farveez Maharoof, Amit Mishra,Mohammad Asif, Pradeep Sangwan.

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (C), Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ashish Nehra, Shaun Pollock, Rohan Raje, Dwayne Smith, Robin Uthappa, Andre Nel.

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