India lost all their four Test matches, three ODIs and the one-off T20I to England and will look to come hard at their opponents. However, it will be interesting to see whether they can dole out the same dose at the English side at home – especially given that at the start of the season, the pitches will be much in favour of the Indian slow bowlers.

What could affect the Indian bowling is that they will need to use two new balls and that will not only reduce the chances of a slow bowler but also that of early reverse swing.

On the other hand, England will hope to get going with experienced Kevin Pietersen set to prove the selectors’ decision to drop him from the ODIs wrong.

This will be South Africa’s first series after the Cricket World Cup, whereas Australia have already played a couple of series, including the one against Sri Lanka. They had won both, the ODI and the Test series against Sri Lanka, but incidentally, lost the two T20Is to the Sri Lankans.

The side has a similar look to what had played in Sri Lanka, with Cameron White leading the team. White is in dire need of some runs as he looks to ensure that he can get going. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see how the likes of Patrick Cummings go.

South Africa will be led by Hashim Amla, who has had a good time with the bat recently. Dale Steyn will be missing from the attack, as will AB de Villiers.

Mumbai Indians batted first after they had won the toss and lost wickets early. Sarul Kanwar and Aiden Blizzard departed in quick succession and after some brief resistance, even Ambati Rayadu left.

However, Mumbai Indians problems were compounded after the fourth wicket partnership was broken. At one stage, they were 105/3 and once the fourth wicket fell, they kept losing wickets like maniacs and were soon pegged back to 109/7.

This was followed by a brief resurrection from lasith Malinga who made 16, but once he was gone, the side was bowled out for 139.

140 was said to be an okayish score, but once T Dilshan was dismissed by Lasith Malinga, the rest of the side failed to read the pace of the pitch. Kohli played 19 balls for his 11 runs, and Gayle scored only 5 from 12 balls.

Harbhajan picked up three wickets to win the man of the match award.

Bangalore were able to chase down a total of more than 200 and they did that thanks to the broad batting capabilities of both, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, who guided the side to a win.

On the other hand, the New South Wales were earlier propped by a superb century from the bat of the opening batsman, Dave Warner, who got to his second successive century. This meant that the side got off to a good start and his partnership with Daniel Smith ensured that the side would be getting to 200 runs.

Fortunately for the Bangalore side, they were able to get going too, through Chris Gayle, who went on to score 92.

Now, the Bangalore side will take on the winner of the game between Mumbai and Somerset in the final.

Somerset have had some good form going for them in the tournament. Apart from losing to Bangalore, they have not lost a single game and that includes two wins in the qualifying and two in the main tournament.

Mumbai Indians, to be frank have been lucky to get to the semi finals. They have not looked good with the bat and hardly been a potent force with the ball either. This has meant that they have been here, after a win against Chennai which they should have never got and one against Trinidad and Tobago which was the foolishness of the opponents than their own stars.

They have a new opener in Sarul Kanwar, who the side will hope will go well against the Somerset side, after having given a good start against Cobras. That game was washed away.

Between the two, Somerset not only look favourites but also deserve a win.

South Africa will take on Australia in two T20Is, three ODIs and that would be followed by a couple of Test matches as well, which should make things interesting.

For the test matches, Graeme Smith will still be the captain of the side, after he had given up on the captaincy of the ODIs and T20Is.Amla had earlier decided not to take up the role of captaincy but had to agree when de Villiers broke his finger in India.

Australia will be led by Cameron White for the T20Is and Michael Clarke will captain the side in the ODIs and Test matches.

The Bangalore side had gone into the tournament as one of the favourites, but started off with two losses from two games. This meant that the side was left with no option but to beat their opponents in the remaining two games.

Bangalore have now started off by defeating the Somerset side rather easily – by 51 runs – which means that the net run-rate has also improved for the side. However, now, if Bangalore do not defeat the South Australians in this last game, they will crash out.

Interestingly, the situation is the same for South Australia as well – they lose and they will have to fly back to Australia.

It is interesting to see how things go, but if Gayle get going, the side should go into the game as favourites.

For now, Somerset have done well in the tournament, having beaten Kolkata Knight Riders in the main draw after having won two games in the qualifiers. On the other hand, South Australia were thrashed by the Warriors in the opening game but this was followed by the win against the Kolkata Knight Riders. They will know that a loss here will end their chances of making it through to the semi-finals.

Somerset have a fine all-round side but the two factors that stand out is the all-round skills of Roelof van der Merwe and the three-pronged, quality spin attack. It will be interesting to see how the likes of Michael Klinger and Callum Ferguson handle it.