Daijiworld Media Network

Mumbai, Apr 27: Hello and welcome everyone. A big match in store for us tonight. It's a must win game for Mumbai. Dwayne Smith is expected to open once again after his splendid show against Kolkata. Gayle's heroics from Bangalore's previous game are still very fresh in memory. Bangalore will need more of it in this away game too.

Mumbai have won the toss and elected to bat.

Teams:

Bangalore (Playing XI): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Saurabh Tiwary, Arun Karthik(w), Ravi Rampaul, Vinay Kumar, Syed Mohammad Jamaluddin, RP Singh, Jaidev Unadkat

Mumbai (Playing XI): Dwayne Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Mitchell Johnson, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Lasith Malinga, Dhawal Kulkarni

Virat Kohli: 'I was going to bowl first. This has a bit of grass on it. It's important to focus on the next game. We have to put that world record performance (from Gayle) behind and think about this game. Murali Kartik is out and Syed Mohammad comes in. Chasing is a our strength and we will be backing ourselves to get whatever they post. This is a pretty similar wicket to the Bangalore one. There is a bit more grass on this one. Mumbai has a little more bounce than Bangalore. Getting the experienced guys to work with the youngsters has been the biggest challenge as a captain. The team has responded brilliantly.'

Rohit Sharma: 'We'd like to bat first. I'd look to put runs on the board. There has been discussions about Gayle, but there are other good players as well. We have one change. Dhawal replaces Chahal. It's just been one game. I'm very hapy with the way I started. This is a very important one. I reckon this pitch will have good bounce initially. Hopefully we'll put up a good show. The crowd has been supporting us throughout. Always a good feeling playing a home game.'

Match Preview

Chris Gayle's record breaking feat in the match against Pune will keep Mumbai on their toes as they get set to take on Bangalore at the Wankhede stadium. Virat Kohli's side, who are the table toppers after an unbeaten run at home, will be hoping to take that momentum into their third away match this season. Meanwhile, Mumbai, who tasted success in their previous match against Kolkata under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, will be in search of their fifth win.

Mumbai:

Team News: Mumbai had suffered consecutive losses by big margins against Rajasthan and Delhi before they managed to overcome Kolkata in a close fought encounter, winning the game with a delivery to spare. With Ponting opting to sit out, Dwayne Smith got a chance to open again and he made it count with a fine knock of 62. The West Indian is likely to continue as Sachin Tendulkar's opening partner in the game against Bangalore too while Ponting's return seems unlikely as Mumbai, in all probability, will go in with an unchanged eleven.

In-form player: After failures in his first two games, Rohit Sharma has been performing well for the Mumbai side with three half-centuries already under his belt. With 264 runs from 7 games at an average of 52.80, Rohit is Mumbai's highest run-getter in this edition of the tournament and the franchise will be hoping that their latest skipper extends his rich vein of form.

Hits: Having failed in his previous two outings, Smith came good against Kolkata with a fine half-century. Mumbai, who have not been receiving good starts from the top order, will be quite relieved after Smith's knock and will be hoping for the West Indian to continue the good work in the upcoming games. In the bowling department, Pragyan Ojha and Mitchell Johnson have been the top wicket-takers for Mumbai while Lasith Malinga too has done a good job so far. While Mumbai will be pleased with their efforts, they will be hoping for their highest wicket taker in this tournament - Johnson - to improve his economy which is currently at 8.08.

Misses: Sachin Tendulkar failed in the match against Kolkata, registering his 4th single digit score in this edition, which will be a big concern for Mumbai as the batting legend has a crucial role to play at the top of the order. Barring scores of 44 and 54 against Pune and Delhi respectively, Tendulkar has not done anything substantial. A batting average of less than 18 is something that will disappoint the Master himself, and knowing his hunger for runs, Mumbai will be hoping that a big knock from him is round the corner. Mumbai will also be slightly worried about Dinesh Karthik - who following a brilliant start, failed in his last couple of outings.

Bangalore:

Team News: With six wins from eight matches, Bangalore have been in red-hot form. Two of their batsmen occupy the top three positions in the batting charts (Gayle is placed 1st with 432 runs and Kohli is in third with 333) while they have Vinay Kumar (13 wickets) and RP Singh (10 wickets) who feature in the top eight list of highest wicket takers this year. The only disappointment for Bangalore will be that they have lost both their away matches and they will be hoping to change that quickly with a win against Mumbai.

In-form player: Storm, thunder, cyclone, hurricane, whirlwind, tornado and twister are the common choice of words to describe Gayle's knocks but what he did against Pune could well be termed as Armageddon or Holocaust for the kind of devastation he unleashed. Fresh of a world-record 175 not-out off just 66 balls, Gayle will be itching to feast upon the Mumbai bowlers against whom he scored an unbeaten 92 in the Bangalore franchise's opening match in 2013.

Hits: While the general feeling about the Bangalore team is that their performances have always revolved around Gayle, the truth is that they have other quality match winners too in the side who have been coming up with consistent shows. AB de Villiers has been in a good scoring form, having accumulated 178 runs in 6 matches while skipper Kohli remarkable touch with the bat has yielded him 333 runs in 8 games. In the bowling department, the presence of Ravi Rampaul has given more strength to the bowling attack as the West Indian has been amongst the wickets in the four matches that he has played so far. Jaydev Unadkat too has done a decent job, having picked up 7 wickets.

Misses: While there is nothing big that is worrying the Bangalore team at the present time, what they will be slightly concerned about their bowlers, who have not been as close-fisted in terms of economy rates. While they have been picking up wickets, the likes of Vinay, RP Singh, Unadkat and Murali Kartik have gone in excess of 7 runs an over. Although their rates have not hurt the team badly, it is something that Ray Jennings and the team think-tank will have on their minds.