Mumbai head coach says his team will not take bottom-placed Pune lightly
Mumbai Indians will be hoping to secure a place in the playoffs with a win over minnows Pune Warriors India at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here today.u00a0Mumbai are placed third with eight wins from 12 matches, while Pune find themselves at the bottom of the table with two victories in 13 games.
Mumbai Indians’ players celebrate their victory against Pune Warriors India at Wankhede Stadium on April 13. Pic/Atul Kamble.
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Despite the formbook, Mumbai coach John Wright insisted that his side cannot afford to take Pune lightly. “We are three-quarters of the way through the tournament. There is still a lot of cricket to play. We have got four matches in a short period of time. We have just got to carry that through away from home to play well here. And let us see what happens,” Wright was quoted as saying on www.iplt20.com
Wright said that a bottom-placed team like Pune could also prove to be quite au00a0handful.
“Well, I don’t think there are any easy teams in this competition and some of our games proved that. We know that if you want to do well through the length of this tournament, you have got to play well. We want to get two points out of this game. We want to play well in these conditions. That will help us. I think it is important to respect every team you play against in this competition. If you don’t, it can lead to big trouble. So, let us see, if we start well, either with the bat or ball that will help us.
John Wright
“We have the afternoon game, so the wicket is going to be different. We have got some problems to solve. We have been very strong in Mumbai, but these are different conditions, and if we can put it together for Saturday, it will be good for our confidence leading into next week and thereafter,” he added.
Wright reckoned Mumbai would not experiment much with the line-up. “We try and pick our best team. We are not at that stage where we can pick different combinations.”
Mumbai Indians had it easy when they last met
A convincing 41-run victory over the Pune Warriors India at the Wankhede Stadium on April 13 this year helped Mumbai Indians move to the top of the table.
Electing to bat, Mumbai posted a daunting score of 183 for three with Rohit Sharma (62 not out), Dinesh Karthik (41) and Sachin Tendulkar (44).
In reply, Pune could only manage 142 for eight in their allotted overs with Mitchell Johnson picking up three wickets for Mumbai.
Brief Scores: MI: 183-3 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 62*; Aaron Finch 1-11) beat PWI: 142-8 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 38; Mitchell Johnson 3-33)
Rohit’s wishlist
. He continues his great form.
. Sachin Tendulkar scores a 50.
. Lasith Malinga bowls miserly.
. Mitchell Johnson makes early inroads.
. Robin Uthappa departs cheaply.
Finch’s wishlist
. Team gets back to winning ways.
. Uthappa plays a cameo.
. Kieron Pollard fails.
. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls economically.
. Yuvraj Singh scores big.
Live on TV: Mumbai vs Pune on Set Max and Sony Six, 4pm
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