Top four teams ready to clash for IPL glory

Dubai: Excitement in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has reached its crescendo with the big four set to play in the qualifiers beginning today.

The battle for the ultimate glory will be spectacular, starting off with the battle between the top two qualifiers, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings. The winner of this match will sail into the final, but the loser will not crash out of the tournament.

The format of the tournament is such that the loser will immediately get a second chance after tomorrow's contest as they go up against the winner of the match between third placed Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders which is ranked fourth. The loser in this match — called the eliminator — will crash out of the tournament.

The question on everyone's lips is will Chris Gayle once again upset Chennai's Super Kings' plans or will Chennai, which has a balanced attack, rise to the challenge and emerge victorious.

No break

The advantage of winning today's match is that the winner can rest and also prepare well for the final on May 28 instead of playing matches without a break.

The team that wins the eliminator will have to play in the qualifier and also the final without a break. Even the loser of the first match today, will have to play in the qualifier on May 27 and in case they win, it will play in the final the very next day. Mumbai pulled off an exciting win over Kolkata on Sunday off the last ball.

Kolkata will meet Mumbai tomorrow wanting to avenge their defeat, but will it be easy to beat Mumbai on their home ground?

All eyes will be on Sachin Tendulkar, who has lost the orange cap as the highest scorer of the tournament, to Gayle and will be itching to produce a match-winning performance. From now on the battle will be a test of nerves. "It will be a different ball game in the play-offs. We have to do the things the hard way now," remarked Gautam Gambhir, the skipper of the Kolkata team after his team's defeat.

Bangalore team franchise director Siddharth Mallya, said: "To bounce back shows the character of my team. We have created a new IPL record of winning seven games in a row and were unbeaten in eight consecutive games. We are here on our merit," he said.

Fixtures