Preview: Pune Warriors India v Mumbai Indians

With only six more matches left in the first round for the Pune Warriors, time is running out for the second-last ranked team to hit the winning note and make it to the playoff stage. They face Mumbai Indians today at home, a team they beat at the start of the tournament to begin their campaign on a successful note but have since lost six of their nine matches, with a recent hat-trick of losses pushing them to towards the bottom of the table. Pre-tournament favorites Mumbai Indians themselves have struggled to come into their own this season, with only Lasitha Malinga performing consistently. They have five wins out of nine matches and come after an easy win against Deccan Chargers in their last outing.

Pune’s gifted players have failed to click as a team, and they have yet to arrive upon a set combination. Ganguly and Uthappa have been under pressure for their par scoring rates, and their highest run scorer Steven Smith has faced only 167 deliveries this season, having to come in late in the order in most matches. Wayne Parnell and Alfonso Thomas have both performed well in the opening bowler’s slot, though the Warriors are missing the services of Ashok Dinda with Ashish Nehra proving to be expensive at the death. It will be interesting to see if Ganguly decides to push himself down the order today and give Steve Smith a top order berth to inject pace into the innings.

Mumbai Indians have done well enough to be ranked third in the points table but have still not played at their potential, with par performances from Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh being a cause of concern. Rohit Sharma has been the highest scorer for them but has lost his wicket in some crucial situations. While Malinga has been incredibly consistent with a bag of wickets and an impressive economy rate under his belt, Munaf Patel and RP Singh have yet to create an impact with the ball. The Mumbai Indians will be hoping to see their batting capital come good today and bat the other team out of the game.

Head to Head

Mumbai defeated Pune in both the encounters last season, while Pune scored a hard fought win over Mumbai earlier this season by successfully defending a low score.

Players to watch out for

Pune Warriors

Michael Clarke

The Australian batsmen made his IPL debut in his last match with a fluent 41 off 31 deliveries on a sluggish pitch, and will play the role of giving Pune solid starts much in the same vein as what Shaun Marsh has done for Punjab and Gautam Gambhir has done for Kolkata. His presence also allows the other batsmen like Pandey, Ganguly and Uthappa to play more freely and keep the scoring rate competitive. His yet unemployed off-spin talents may also come in handy when the flow of runs needs to be stemmed in the middle overs.

Steve Smith

Steve Smith has consistently given some swift innings in the lower order in the face of pressure situations, and deserves an opportunity to have more overs to work with. His natural hitting ability and flowing strokes makes him a major threat in favorable batting conditions.

Mumbai Indians

Sachin Tendulkar

He must be hugely disappointed with his performance this season, having scored only 94 runs in 5 games, but has still looked fluent enough to head the ‘Potential Threats’ list in the opposition teams’ meetings. He will be looking to score a hefty knock sooner rather than later, and an even and firm Pune track will be ideal for him to hit form.

Ambati Rayadu

Rayadu pulled off a heist at Mohali to snatch the game away from Punjab, and has showed his abilities with the bat in a swift 62 against Delhi earlier in the season. It might be a good idea to send him at number 4 to see if he can give the innings good momentum in the first ten overs.

Anticipated face-off

Lasitha Malinga has troubled the Indian batsmen with not just in-dipping yorkers but also some short jabs at their body, but will have to do a little more than that to disconcert Michael Clarke when he comes up against him with the new ball.

Prediction

Pune will be looking for their erratic performances to come together in what is an extremely crucial game for them, while the Mumbai Indians will be hoping to see their star performers come good and kick-start a predicted ascendency in the tournament. Though Pune has shown sparks and has not been dominated by any team, Mumbai has more players capable of making a decisive impact and turn the match Mumbai’s way. Predicted winner: Mumbai Indians.