CLT20 Final - It's Gayle vs Malinga, Kohli vs Harbhajan

Chennai: T20 is all about momentum and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have that at the moment. Coming from the brink after losing two straight games, they have made it to the final and are the overwhelming favourites against Mumbai Indians.

RCB's success story has revolved around three top-order players -- Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Tillakaratne Dilshan. The others have chipped in with bits and pieces performances, but the trio has consistently provided the thrust to help the team go past 200-plus totals in two back-to-back games and against quality Australian attacks.

Gayle, of course, is the biggest threat and MS Dhoni had shown during the IPL how to keep the marauding left-hander in check. In two games, he started with R Ashwin and the offie got rid of the left-hander early. Mumbai, too, have a spinner of the calibre of Harbhajan Singh.

One thing that may go in favour of Mumbai bowlers is the nature of the Chepauk track. It's not like Chinnaswamy where the ball comes on to the bat, something that the likes of Kohli, Dilshan and Gayle really enjoy. The RCB boys haven't played on this new Chepauk surface and that may just make things difficult for them.

"We have been here for a while now and know how the pitch behaves," Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shaun Pollock had said.

The team has played three games here, winning two, and even in the one game they lost against NSW, the bowlers did look good after the batting faltered.

The Mumbai Indians batting, of course, is still a bit of a worry. They lack the one solid batsman, who can take them through if things go tight. James Franklin has tried to play the part, but he doesn't have the quality of a Kohli to do that consistently.

On the bowling front though, there's not much to choose from. The likes of Lasith Malinga and Bhajji have the ability to put the brakes on. RCB's Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes, too, know how to operate in Indian conditions.

Local left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad could have been a good option for RCB on this track, but he is out with a ligament tear and that will be a blow.

Bangalore will go in as favourites by a slight margin, if only because of the awesome form of their batsmen. Moreover, even though their bowlers don't have flattering figures, in Dirk Nannes and Daniel Vettori they have at least proven international performers, who can be expected to raise their game for a big occasion.

Teams from

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Daniel Vettori(captain), Sreenath Aravind, Mayank Agarwal, Abhimanyu Mithun, Arun Karthik (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, Dirk Nannes, Asad Pathan, Saurabh Tiwary, Syed Mohammad Jamaluddin, Raju Bhatkal, Johan van der Wath

Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh (captain), Yuzvendra Chahal, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Aiden Blizzard, James Franklin, Davy Jacobs, Lasith Malinga, Ambati Rayudu (wk), Tirumalsetti Suman, Abu Nechim, Andrew Symonds, Rajagopal Sathish, Dilhara Fernando, Sarul Kanwar

Stats and trivia

• At 252 runs, Gayle is 76 behind the leading run-getter of the tournament, David Warner. Gayle, though, has hit 24 sixes to Warner's 20. During the course of this tournament Gayle has taken his overall T20 six count to 155, behind only David Hussey and Ross Taylor.
• MI lead the Royal Challengers 6-4 on the head-to-head.
• Malinga has made a late surge on the wickets tally, but he is still behind the leading man, Ravi Rampaul, who ended his tournament with 12.
• With five dismissals, Arun Karthik is the joint-leader among keepers with most scalps. Among non-keepers, Owais Shah and Arul Suppiah have finished the tournament with six catches each. With three catches to his name, Kohli comes closest among the fielders still alive in the tournament

Match facts
Sunday October 9, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)