With strong hosts expected to challenge, a highly-fancied South Africa face their demons.
Back in the top half of the league table after a convincing win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils will look to build on the winning momentum when they take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
'It's great to have Rohit at the other end. He's a very calm character.'
After what at one stage earlier this month looked like a vast game of musical chairs, reigning champions India ended up topping the world rankings when the five-month countdown to the 2015 World Cup started on Sunday.
From the bottom of the table to champions in the course of four weeks. Harish Kotian/Rediff.com looks back at Mumbai Indians's astonishing turnaround in IPL 8.
Mumbai Indians produced a clinical performance to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 18 runs in a high-scoring affair and register their maiden win in this year's Indian Premier League in Bengaluru.
Opener Jason Roy hit a quickfire half-century while leg-spinner Adil Rashid claimed three wickets to lift England to a convincing six-wicket victory against England in the ICC World T20 warm-up match at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians will have their task cut out when they lock horns with Chennai Super Kings.
Buoyed by their thrilling last-ball win against Delhi Daredevils, a confident Rajasthan Royals will take on a beleaguered Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League cricket encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Powered by a swashbuckling 133 off just 59 balls by AB de Villiers and a classy 82 from skipper Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore trounced Mumbai Indians by 39 runs in the Indian Premier League, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with a sparkling 84 not out as an inspired Mumbai Indians cruised to a six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders to open their account in the ninth season of Indian Premier League in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Captain Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu played crucial knocks after Harbhajan Singh's impressive showing with the ball as Mumbai Indians notched up a thrilling five-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in their rain-affected Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
Kings XI Punjab put the brakes on their summer of discontent as they notched up a convincing seven-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Mumbai Indians put in a clinical performance with both bat and ball to thrash Kolkata Knight Riders by a huge margin of 102 runs, in the IPL match, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Colin Munro and Corey Anderson blasted quickfire half-centuries to power New Zealand to a convincing victory against Sri Lanka in the warm-up match of the ICC World Twenty20, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Captain Rohit Sharma and Evin Lewis hit quickfire half-centuries to help Mumbai Indians crush Royal Challengers Bangalore by 46 runs for their first victory in IPL-11, in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Rohit Sharma's quickfire half-century went in vain as Rising Pune Supergiant shocked table-toppers Mumbai Indians by three runs, in the Indian Premier League, in Mumbai on Monday.
Te MVP of IPL 11, after Week 4, is young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant.
Both teams will hope to banish some unwanted baggage that has dogged them for years.
67 players, including 23 overseas, were sold and Rs 86.8 crore spent on them by the eight franchises in Bangalore on Monday.
Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming feels India's upcoming tour of Australia next month will determine how the defending champions' campaign pans out in the World Cup next year.
The Mumbai Indians seem to script a similar story from the last two Indian Premier League editions, when they had recovered from poor starts. After a sluggish start in IPL 9, the defending champions have finally seemed to find their form by defeating heavyweights Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium. Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front by scoring a match-winning 62 runs but another major positive that MI can take from Wednesday's game is that they finally look to find their settled playing XI. Skipper Rohit reflects on MI's second victory out of five games and also reveals his future plans in the tournament. Congratulations on the successful run-chase. This must be a very satisfying win against a good team? Yes, it is a very satisfying victory, especially to beat a team like that. We just wanted to focus on our strengths and we did pretty much well. We bowled really well, we fielded really well and we batted well too. This was a perfect example of how we can perform as a team. As a captain it is sheer joy to see the batsmen step-up and perform well. I am really happy to see this.
Rohit Sharma and Lendl Simmons hit half-centuries as Mumbai Indians demolished Chennai Super Kings by 41 runs to win their second Indian Premier League title, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
With Delhi Daredevils on a nine-match losing streak at home, Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond said the visitors will look to exploit on the opposition's shortcomings in Thursday's IPL match in Delhi.
Factbox on the cricket World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa at Eden Park, Auckland.
David Warner played a captain's knock, smashing an unbeaten 90 runs off 59 balls to power the Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 7-wicket convincing victory against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Monday. Chasing a modest 143-run target, the Sunrisers chased the target with 15 balls to spare in Hyderabad. The Sunrisers have recorded their first points in the points table of IPL 9, while MI have now lost three out of their last four games.
Mumbai Indians need to rethink their strategy; Narine boost for Kolkata Knight Riders.
K L Rahul, the kingpin of the KXIP batting, is second (MVPI: 601), followed by Sunrisers Captain Kane Williamson (543). Jos Buttler, after his match-winning batting for Rajasthan Royals on Friday night, is just 4 'runs' behind at 539, and M S Dhoni is fifth with 538 'runs'.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji analyse IPL performances in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their title defence against a formidable Mumbai Indians side in the opening match of the eighth edition of Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
High on confidence after decimating a high-profile Royal Challengers Bangalore, an upbeat Gujarat Lions will be aiming to lift their game a notch higher when they face title contenders Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League encounter, in Rajkot on Saturday.
Jos Buttler and Joe Root thrashed brilliant centuries in England's highest One-Day International score on the way to a 210-run rout of New Zealand in the first game of the series at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
Mumbai Indians have a 10-5 record against KKR. Can they maintain the advantage?
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player standings after the 30th game in IPL 10.
India's T20 World Cup challenge has ended. But it is likely that Virat Kohli (MVPI of 338) will go on to become the tournament's most valuable player because he enjoys a lead of 109 runs over second-placed Joe Root (229).
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shahryar Khan believes the Lahore Lions' successful participation in the ongoing Champions League Twenty20 will open the Indian Premier League doors for the country's players.
As we write this we still await the crucial India-Australia knock-out in Mohali. But India's individual performances in the T20 World Cup so far haven't been truly impressive. A look at the most valuable player index (MVPI) table reveals that there's no Indian player in the top 20. MVPI merges a player's batting + bowling + fielding performance into a single 'run equivalent'. The formula to compute the MVP is devised to reward batsmen who score runs at a high strike rate, bowlers who take wickets at low economy rate and fielders who field the best (take a lot of catches and participate in run-outs). Since this is a relatively low scoring tournament we have assumed a team's par score to be 150, and each wicket to be worth 15 'runs'. It isn't a surprise that players from New Zealand dominate the rankings so far, although Joe Root tops the table after his 83 in 44 balls against South Africa.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson believes India, with several match winners in their squad and the advantage of playing in home conditions, are definitely one the favourites at the World T20.
Delhi Daredevils all-rounder Chris Morris has 12 wickets, at a better-than-par economy rate of 6.6 (the par economy rate is 8 runs conceded per over), and scored 74 runs at a staggering strike rate of almost 240 (the par strike rate is 133 runs in 100 balls).
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