NEWS
Detailed

Title: Tendulkar tears into Kolkata attack early

Desc:

Sachin Tendulkar is dealing with boundaries at the moment and Kolkata are feeling the pinch. The Brabourne Stadium is getting noisier by the minute.

Chris Gayle smashed 75 but Kolkata struggled to just about a decent total against Mumbai. The wicket has been tricky to bat on, so it's still game on.

Gayle, playing his first match in IPL 3 got off to a sedate start but broke loose to bring up his half-century.

Opening the innings seemed to have worked for Sourav Ganguly, who has got Kolkata off to a brisk start. Chris Gayle, at the other end, wasn't looking too bad either.

Harbhajan Singh gave Mumbai their first breakthrough in the eleventh over when he disturbed his former skipper, Sourav Ganguly's timber.

Owais Shah went at a brisk rate, scoring 31, before being dismissed in the last over after missing a straight one from Zaheer Khan.

The Toss

With Chris Gayle back for them, Kolkata have won the toss and decided to bat first against Mumbai in their IPL tie on Monday.

The other big news is that Mumbai have dropped veteran Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya from the line-up.

Brief Preview

Kolkata are struggling after opening the third edition of the IPL with two wins against Hyderabad and Bangalore. However, their progress has been rudely jerked by first Chennai and then Jaipur, who exposed some chinks in Kolkata's armoury.

Sourav Ganguly has a lot on his head as he leads his team against old chum and teammate of over 10 years, Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai. The hosts have been on a roll till they were done in by Bangalore in the last game. With home support behind them and the likes of Tendulkar, Pollard and Bravo in the batting ranks, Mumbai will be a force to reckon with.

On the other hand, if Shane Bond and Ishant Sharma bowl true to potential, things will heat up at the Brabourne Stadium. Kolkata are in desperate need of a win here and one against Mumbai in their den will be a huge morale booster.

Teams

Mumbai: SR Tendulkar  (Captain), S Dhawan, AP Tare (WK), SS Tiwary, DJ Bravo, KA Pollard, R McLaren, R Sathish, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, SL Malinga
 
Kolkata: SC Ganguly (Captain), CH Gayle, CA Pujara, OA Shah, Mandeep Singh, AD Mathews, WP Saha (WK), M Kartik, Harpreet Singh, SE Bond, I Sharma