1st Semi-Final: RCB v/s NSW.
Today at 8:00 PM (Indian Local Time)
Which team are you supporting today?
Team Overview:
Both the teams are on winning streaks. Ideally it should mean no changes to the XIs, but both have two places to debate.
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
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The Royal Challengers have S Aravind to be worried about. On Wednesday he was given shows of trust after shows of trust despite the presence of such part-time bowlers as Gayle and Dilshan. He went for 69 in four overs. Abhimanyu Mithun could be a direct replacement. They also need to get a decent contribution from the middle order. With Saurabh Tiwary struggling, it's almost as if it's the top three, a hole, and then Vettori. They can't really manufacture a valuable batsman at this deep end of the tournament, and might still go for the big, albeit unreliable, hitting of the likes of Tiwary and Mayank Agarwal ahead of Mohammad Kaif's slower reliability and better fielding.
Squad: DL Vettori*, MA Agarwal, S Aravind, KB Arun Karthik, RR Bhatkal, TM Dilshan, CH Gayle, M Kaif, V Kohli, A Mithun, DP Nannes, AUK Pathan, J Syed Mohammad, SS Tiwary, JJ van der Wath
New South Wales:
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Stuart Clark's cutters were always going to be effective on the slow Chennai track, but can NSW risk his medium pace on this quick pitch with short boundaries? Nathan Hauritz, though, could be just as big a risk. Will they punt on the young Josh Hazlewood who has played just three Twenty20s? Another slightly adventurous move could be to bring in Philip Hughes at the expense of Daniel Smith. Hughes was a wicketkeeper-batsman at beginner levels, but this might be too left-field for a big match.
Squad: SM Katich*, SR Clark, PJ Cummins, NM Hauritz, JR Hazlewood, MC Henriques, PJ Hughes, NJ Maddinson, SNJ O'Keefe, BJ Rohrer, DLR Smith†, SPD Smith, MA Starc, DA Warner, SR Watson
