In the last match of the IPL's league stage, the Mumbai Indians rested half their side, including Sachin Tendulkar. This move will benefit them fitness-wise in their semi-final today, but will it affect their rhythm and momentum? I hope not.
Mumbai struggled to get to 133, made possible only by Tiwary's 46 up the order and Rayudu's late fireworks. Duminy was clearly uncomfortable on the slow pitch, and Bravo's poor form continued. For KKR, Bond, Kartik, Unadkat and Dinda kept it tight and did not allow free scoring, while their chase was completely hiccup-free as Ganguly, McCullum and Dave Hussey took their time to get there. But they did.
That victory left KKR in sixth place, although they remain tied on 14 points with three other teams, bogged down by only run rate. This is a good indication of what their problems were this season - failure to win big and failure to avoid losing by a big margin.
This brings us to the semifinals. The Mumbai Indians will play the Royal Challengers Bangalore today, that post is to follow soon. The other clash is between the Chennai Super Kings and the Deccan Chargers, sure to be another cracker.
The semifinals, this is the time when fans, who've gotten sick of the cricket overload and decided to rest, will wake up. Just like me.
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