A Quick Look at Head to Head scenario in Semi finals

Delhi Daredevils Vs Hyderabad Deccan Chargers

• Two teams with great batting strength all the way.
• Sehwag and Gambhir Vs Gilchrist and Gibbs, Cannot get better and bigger than this. Four great opening batsmen world cricket has seen.
• Middle order of both the team are in good shape. AB De Villiers, Dilshan and Dinesh Karthik have equally achieved what Symonds, Rohit Sharma and Dwayne smith have achieved for Hyderabad
• Nannes and Ashish Nehra is the best Opening bowling pair of this IPL. Whereas RP Singh has struggled all the way to find a good pair opposite him. But Delhi have to watch out for part time bowlers in Hyderabad. Rohit Sharma has picked up 11 wickets in this tournament already.
• Pragyan Ojha - Watch out for this lad, as his confidence is so high after he got picked up in India's T-20 squad for world cup.
• Two bowlers from Hyderabad are running neck to neck for best bowler award in IPL season 2. RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha, both are in dream run, so confident about their bowling.
• Deccan should not discount the idea of Mcgrath stepping in for semi finals. They have to back up their plan with this thought too.
• Australians and South africans have the will to deliver at the extreme pressure situations. I mean big matches like semis and finals. So watch out for Gilchrist, Gibbs, Symonds and Mcgrath (if he plays).
• Dinesh Karthik should be targeted by Deccan, simply for the reason that he can bat along with tail enders and could still score 10 runs per over or more in the end.

Chennai Vs Bangalore

• Dhoni's efficiency Vs Kumble's experience
• Mathew Hayden, Suresh Raina and Dhoni are key to post a huge score for Chennai.
• Kallis, Dravid, Boucher and Ross Taylor are crucial for RCB to win the game.
• Match would be very interesting when the likes of Parthiv Patel, Morkel and Oram come good with the bat for Chennai and similarly if Virat Kohli and Robin Uthappa come good for RCB
• Bowling strengths of the two teams are more or less similar. Albie Morkel for Chennai and Praveen kumar for RCB are very crucial as they both have proved effective with the new ball. They both kept on knocking the openers of opponents.
• Muralidharan vs Kumble is another clash which would be interesting to watch. Both knows the importance of middle overs in a T-20 form. They would be bowling in tandem with other spinners in their respective side to turn the match. Jakati for Chennai has been the best support bowler for Murali, whereas Anil Kumble found Appanna and Van der merwe as able support along with him.
• Manish Pandey's innings of 114 n.o would not have come at a better time for himself. Anil Kumble would be more than happy to send him along with Kallis for opening the innings in Semi finals.
• Both Kumble and Dhoni believe in youngsters delivering the goods. They pep them really nice to come out with stand out performances.
• Jacob Oram could serve Dhoni just like a timed bomb ready to explode during a semi final match. If he has a good day, rest assured RCB will have a bad day.
• Boucher's brilliance has revived RCB from tough situations. He might do that again.
• Mike Hussey is back in the squad for selections. Will Dhoni risk his team mix and bring in Hussey ? Wait and watch. I hope he does not do that.
  

All the above factors mentioned would make the Semi finals really exciting to watch.

I would cherish Chennai lifting the trophy. But we had already noted how evenly matched the teams are and anything could happen from this stage.

Thanks,

Prashy.