On the face of it, today's seventh round Indian Premier League clash between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings XI at the Brabourne Stadium doesn't look like an attractive proposition.

Will it be Sachin on song or Brett Lee on fire tonight?

On the face of it, today's seventh round Indian Premier League clash between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings XI at the Brabourne Stadium doesn't look like an attractive proposition. After all, it's a battle between the top and bottom placed teams.

But, there are enough battles within the battles to make it a must-watch. Just the personal contest between Sachin Tendulkar and Brett Lee should be enough to make your evening.

Their contests in international cricket are legendary. Tendulkar has the edge in Test cricket but the Australian pacer has dominated their duels in one-day cricket. In 12 Tests, they have played against each other, Lee has claimed Tendulkar's wicket five times at a dismal average of 50.40 but in ODI cricket, Lee has stolen the thunder having got the better of the Mumbai batsman nine times in their 17 meetings at an impressive average of 17. In fact, Tendulkar is on top of Lee's list of most dismissed batsmen in ODIs.

"Once again it is an opportunity to bowl to the greatest batsman in the world," said Lee yesterday. And, the pace ace is all charged up for the battle. "It is a battle, but it is also a lot of fun to match-up to the best batsman," said Lee.

Lee's task is surely cut out for today. He is coming back from injury and is not in top flight. On the other hand, the Mumbai Indians skipper is in red-hot form. With four half-centuries in six games, he is averaging 60.60.

The importance of Tendulkar's wicket cannot be lost on King's XI. It is the key to dismantling the Indians' batting line-up. Not only has Tendulkar provided his team with rollicking starts, he has batted right through to the death overs to hold the Mumbai innings together.

In fact, there are many lessons for Kings XI's senior batsmen from the way Tendulkar has gone about his business. Mainly, in the way he has capitalised whenever he's got the starts.

The Punjab team is still searching for someone to take up that responsibility in their top-order as below-par batting has been the main reason for their last position on the points table (five losses in six games).
Kings XI's stand-in skipper Mahela Jayawardene yesterday lamented his batsmen's inability to bat through the overs.

"We had good starts up the order, but none stood that long to make it count. If you look at other teams, players have taken responsibility to bat throughout. We haven't done that. The guys are hitting well in the middle, but they have not taken the responsibility to bat through and take us to a good position," said Jayawardene.