Moment of truth for Mumbai Indians

It's the moment of truth for the Mumbai Indians as they face a crunch situation in the Champions League T20 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kingsmead today.


u00a0u00a0 RCB skipper Anil Kumble

But Mumbai is not the only ones in the quagmire as the Royal Challengers also dug a hole for themselves by losing to the South Australian Redbacks at the same venue on Friday.

Mumbai and Royal Challengers have two points from their respective games - Mumbai Indians have played three matches while the Royal Challengers have had two outings. And today's game has become a "must-win" situation for both teams - a loss for Mumbai Indians will mean and early exit from the competition while the Royal Challengers, who still have to meet the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers on Tuesday, will live on and still have a chance of a semi-final spot provided they win convincingly against the Gauteng franchise.

Taking this into consideration the organisers of CL T20 could not have asked for a better climax to their Group B round robin matches than the ones which will be on offer over the next three days.

While the South Australian Redbacks have already qualified for the semi-finals, there will be an intense battle between three teams - Lions, Mumbai and Bangalore for the second semi-final place from this group.

The battle for the second semi-final spot begins at the Wanderers today where the Lions meet Guyana, while later in the day the focus shifts to Kingsmead where the RC Bangalore take on their close rivals, Mumbai Indians.

If the Lions win their clash against Guyana then it would become imperative for the Royal Challengers, who finished third in the 2010 Indian Premier League, to beat Mumbai Indians, runners-up at the last IPL, to keep their hopes alive of a semi-final place.

Tantalising clash
If that happens, it would mean that the Lions and the Royal Challengers - both have two points each going into today's game - would then have four points to their name and set-up a tantalising clash at the Wanderers on Tuesday which would effectively be a knockout. The winner would then advance into the semi-finals with the Redbacks.

If, however, the Mumbai Indians beat the Royals Challengers today and the Bangalore side upset the Lions at the Wanderers on Tuesday the second Group B semi-final spot will be determined by run-rate as all three teams would have four points.

Sachin Tendulkar said after his team's win against Guyana that the Mumbai Indians would need to lift the game to another level.
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Anil Kumble echoed the same sentiments after his side lost to the South Australian outfit on Friday.

But the big question is just how much more can these two sides, with outstanding players, lift their game?