Chennai Elect to Bat Against Bangalore

Durban: Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat against Anil Kumble-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Champions League Twenty20 semifinal on Friday.

Both the teams will put up no-hold-barred efforts to win the contest at the floodlit Kingsmead ground and take another stride to become the first Indian Premier League team to win the show-piece tournament.

Riding on a disciplined performance by the bowlers, the Chennai team on Wednesday snatched a 10-run win over Warriors, and Dhoni would surely expect an encore when IPL champions take the ground.

Chennai spin department would be spearheaded by legendary Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, while left-arm tweaker Shadab Jakati would have to extend support.

Opener Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay would have to play their role to give the team a strong opening, with captain Dhoni and S Badrinath coming down the order.

On the other hand, in-form Rahul Dravid will be the mainstay of the Bangalore batting order.

Dravid, who cracked a fine unbeaten 71 against Mumbai Indians, would try to do it again in the final-four match. And even though the team will miss South African star Jacques Kallis but Manish Pandey, who played a fine knock against Lions, is expected to help Bangalore enter the summit-stage.

In the bowling department, captain Anil Kumble, who has led from the front so far in the tournament, would once again spearhead the bowling attack with two Kumars - Praveen and Vinay expected to give him a good support. Meanwhile, Dale Steyn, who is yet to hit his best form, may just be able to cause some problems in Chennai's batting line-up.

All in all, both Bangalore and Chennai have their sets of strengths and weaknesses and any one of these two teams, on its given day, can make a difference.

Team news

Bangalore Royal Challengers: Virat Kohli, Vinay Kumar, Ross Taylor, Robin Uthappa (w), Rahul Dravid, Praveen Kumar, Manish Pandey, Dillon du Preez, Dale Steyn, Cameron White, Anil Kumble (c)

Chennai Super Kings: Suresh Raina, Srikkanth Anirudha, S Badrinath, Ravichandran Ashwin, Muttiah Muralitharan, Murali Vijay, MS Dhoni (cw), Michael Hussey, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Doug Bollinger, Albie Morkel