Following a comprehensive 8 wicket win against Chennai in the tournament opener, Mumbai will be a confident lot when they take on Pune in the third match of IPL 5. Mumbai start as favourites although Pune will be looking to prevent them from taking any momentum.
Head to Head: Mumbai faced Pune twice in the previous edition of the IPL and they ended up winning both games. The first match was a tight affair with Mumbai securing a 7 wicket win off the last ball while chasing 119. Mumbai's second win against Pune was a far more comfortable one as they won by 21 runs while defending a total of 160.
Mumbai: What was witnessed in their comfortable win against Chennai in the opening game of the tournament was that Mumbai struck the right cord in terms of finding the team balance. It was an all-round effort as Mumbai played as an unit with all the members chipping in with valuable contributions. Pragyan Ojha shined with the ball and so did Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard as Mumbai restricted Chennai to 112. During the chase, Richard Levi, who was playing his maiden IPL game, proved why he is a T20 sensation as he smashed a 35-ball 50. James Franklin and Ambati Rayudu also did their bit with the bat, helping the team reach the target. As far as batting failures are concerned, Mumbai had just one with Rohit Sharma falling for a duck. In the bowling department there were a couple of concerns as Franklin had an expensive outing despite picking up a wicket while Harbhajan Singh went wicketless. However, in defence of Mumbai's new skipper, it must be said that he bowled pretty tightly, not letting the batsmen score easily off him. what was impressive about Harbhajan was that he led the team well, making the right calls for most part of the game. Over all, Mumbai have a balanced squad and have started on the right note. They will be looking to continue in the same vein and make their form count.
Team News: There is an injury concern in the Mumbai camp - Sachin Tendulkar was hit on his in his left-hand while trying to fend a Doug Bollinger delivery and had to retire hurt. It is still not clear whether it is fracture or a simple bruise. In case it turns out to be the latter, Mumbai are unlikely to make any changes to their eleven.
Pune: While they are missing the services of key players like Yuvraj Singh and Graeme Smith, Pune will be hoping that their current skipper and former India captain Sourav Ganguly can inspire the team in this edition of the IPL. Pune, who had a miserable last year, finishing 9th on the points table, will be hoping for a fresh start. The Sahara-owned team is capable of finishing as a top side as it does have a quality line-up of players. Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have played valuable role in the IPL before, although with a different team. Pune also have players of international quality in Jesse Ryder and Marlon Samuels, who are proven match-winners. In Sourav Ganguly, Pune have one of the best captains to have led India. Tamim Iqbal is also a quality player and his form in the recent times has been impressive and that will be a big boost for the Pune Warriors. They also have a decent bowling line up with pacers like Wayne Parnell, Ashok Dinda, Ashish Nehra and Alfonso Thomas. As far as spin bowling options are concerned, Pune have plenty of variety there. Rahul Sharma, who impressed all with a good showing in IPL 2011, will have a key role to play and Pune can also pick from the likes of Murali Karthik, Nathan McCullum Steven Smith and Ali Murtaza. All Ganguly will be hoping is for his team to get into the act straight-away.
Team News: Graeme Smith was ruled out of the tournament as he had to undergo an operation to his ankle. Apart from that, there aren't any injury concerns for Pune. However, there are a couple of overseas players missing from the line-up - Angelo Mathews is currently playing the second Test against Sri Lanka and will miss Pune's first two matches while Michael Clarke can only join the team after April 27 on completion of the West Indies tour.
Upcoming Milestones:
# Robin Uthappa is one short of registering 50 sixes in the IPL. He will become the 10th player to achieve that mark.
# Lasith Malinga has taken 63 wickets in the IPL and he needs to more to surpass RP Singh as the highest wicket-taker.
Head to Head: Mumbai faced Pune twice in the previous edition of the IPL and they ended up winning both games. The first match was a tight affair with Mumbai securing a 7 wicket win off the last ball while chasing 119. Mumbai's second win against Pune was a far more comfortable one as they won by 21 runs while defending a total of 160.
Mumbai: What was witnessed in their comfortable win against Chennai in the opening game of the tournament was that Mumbai struck the right cord in terms of finding the team balance. It was an all-round effort as Mumbai played as an unit with all the members chipping in with valuable contributions. Pragyan Ojha shined with the ball and so did Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard as Mumbai restricted Chennai to 112. During the chase, Richard Levi, who was playing his maiden IPL game, proved why he is a T20 sensation as he smashed a 35-ball 50. James Franklin and Ambati Rayudu also did their bit with the bat, helping the team reach the target. As far as batting failures are concerned, Mumbai had just one with Rohit Sharma falling for a duck. In the bowling department there were a couple of concerns as Franklin had an expensive outing despite picking up a wicket while Harbhajan Singh went wicketless. However, in defence of Mumbai's new skipper, it must be said that he bowled pretty tightly, not letting the batsmen score easily off him. what was impressive about Harbhajan was that he led the team well, making the right calls for most part of the game. Over all, Mumbai have a balanced squad and have started on the right note. They will be looking to continue in the same vein and make their form count.
Team News: There is an injury concern in the Mumbai camp - Sachin Tendulkar was hit on his in his left-hand while trying to fend a Doug Bollinger delivery and had to retire hurt. It is still not clear whether it is fracture or a simple bruise. In case it turns out to be the latter, Mumbai are unlikely to make any changes to their eleven.
Pune: While they are missing the services of key players like Yuvraj Singh and Graeme Smith, Pune will be hoping that their current skipper and former India captain Sourav Ganguly can inspire the team in this edition of the IPL. Pune, who had a miserable last year, finishing 9th on the points table, will be hoping for a fresh start. The Sahara-owned team is capable of finishing as a top side as it does have a quality line-up of players. Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have played valuable role in the IPL before, although with a different team. Pune also have players of international quality in Jesse Ryder and Marlon Samuels, who are proven match-winners. In Sourav Ganguly, Pune have one of the best captains to have led India. Tamim Iqbal is also a quality player and his form in the recent times has been impressive and that will be a big boost for the Pune Warriors. They also have a decent bowling line up with pacers like Wayne Parnell, Ashok Dinda, Ashish Nehra and Alfonso Thomas. As far as spin bowling options are concerned, Pune have plenty of variety there. Rahul Sharma, who impressed all with a good showing in IPL 2011, will have a key role to play and Pune can also pick from the likes of Murali Karthik, Nathan McCullum Steven Smith and Ali Murtaza. All Ganguly will be hoping is for his team to get into the act straight-away.
Team News: Graeme Smith was ruled out of the tournament as he had to undergo an operation to his ankle. Apart from that, there aren't any injury concerns for Pune. However, there are a couple of overseas players missing from the line-up - Angelo Mathews is currently playing the second Test against Sri Lanka and will miss Pune's first two matches while Michael Clarke can only join the team after April 27 on completion of the West Indies tour.
Upcoming Milestones:
# Robin Uthappa is one short of registering 50 sixes in the IPL. He will become the 10th player to achieve that mark.
# Lasith Malinga has taken 63 wickets in the IPL and he needs to more to surpass RP Singh as the highest wicket-taker.
via cricbuzz
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