Mumbai Indians face Australian Twenty20 champions Perth Scorchers at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, New Delhi in a bid to claim a semi-final spot in the Champions League T20. Catch all the live updates... (Live Scorecard | Live Commentary | Points Table)
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the time Mumbai Indians take on Perth Scorchers in their last Champions
League Twenty20 2013 Group A match at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on
Wednesday (October 2) afternoon, they will know whether they have
already been knocked out or are still in with a shot of making the
semifinals.Currently, Otago Volts are second in Group A with a net run rate of 0.869, while Mumbai, are third with a run rate of 0.09. A huge difference than can be negated if Mumbai beat Perth Scorchers by 49 runs, or with 34 balls remaining in the chase.
Mumbai are a team of big, costly stars, but they haven't looked as good as they are capable of. Rohit Sharma looked good in the game against Rajasthan, which Mumbai lost, with a steady 44, while Kieron Pollard impressed with the bat both against Rajasthan (42) and against Highveld Lions (31 not out). Dwayne Smith, meanwhile, stood out with a high-impact 63 against the Lions and has since bragged, "If I stay at the crease, I know there aren't many bowlers that can stop me from scoring."
That innings, however, was in Jaipur. The action has shifted to Delhi, and no one knows how the pitch will behave after the uncharacteristically heavy monsoon the city has experienced. And, as experience has taught us, even a close inspection of the pitch at Kotla is also, often, not enough to get a proper idea of its nature.
That's something everyone will be aware of, none more so than Sachin Tendulkar, who might well be playing his last match in the Mumbai Indians colours. He isn't in great form, having collected just 20 runs in two outings so far, and is, possibly, aware of the growing noises about his future. Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu are two other Mumbai batsmen who will worry about their form, having done precious little so far. (Read more)
Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Abu Nechim, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rishi Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn Maxwell, Pragyan Ojha, Akshar Patel, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Smith, Aditya Tare.
Perth Scorchers: Simon Katich (captain), Michael Beer, Hilton Cartwright, Liam Davis, Joe Mennie, Joel Paris, Ashton Turner, Sam Whiteman, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Burt Cockley, Brad Hogg, Marcus North, Tom Triffitt (wicketkeeper), Adam Voges.
John Wright and Mumbai Indians hope for the best
A day before the last Champions League Twenty20 2013 Group A game - between Mumbai Indians and Perth Scorchers - not much of the talk was specifically about the match.
Partly because the worth of the match would be decided only after Rajasthan Royals and Otago Volts wrap up their fixture in Jaipur on Tuesday (September 1) night, and partly because it might well be Sachin Tendulkar's last game in Mumbai Indians' colours.
"We've already missed one game, which is proving problematic for us," said Wright. "Hope the Delhi weather is fine and we get a game tomorrow. We are well supported wherever we go. Hopefully that will be the same. We were all watching the match the other day (Sunday, when Otago beat Lions in the Super Over) and hoping the result goes our way. It's a situation a lot of us haven't been in. Let's hope for the best."
Wright, however, felt it would be a batting wicket, saying that that's what he had been told by the ground staff. "They have told me it will be a good batting wicket. We hope so. The last time we were here (during IPL 2013), it was a beautiful batting wicket. There might be a bit of movement with the weather being the way it is. But that might not be the case also. It's pretty good batting here generally. That will suit us. We have to bat really well to stand a chance."
The problem for Mumbai, in the two games they have played, has been that none of Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu made many runs. Wright did argue that "we've only played two games; it's pretty hard in Twenty20", but that didn't change the fact that Mumbai have fallen short of expectations primarily because of their batsmen's failure. (Read more)
Justin Langer hopes for Sachin Terndulkar 'duck'
It's no secret that Australian cricketers over the years have respected Sachin Tendulkar more than anyone of his peers but when Perth Scorchers take on Mumbai Indians in a Champions League T20 match on Wednesday, coach Justin Langer would like one of his bowlers do an "Eric Hollies" to the Indian legend.
Hollies, an English leg-spinner was best known for having bowled Sir Don Bradman for a duck with a googly in latter's last ever Test match and Perth Scorchers coach Justin Langer is hoping that one among his spinners could pull off something similar when the Indian maestro comes out to bat.
"I hope we have a Hollies in our team tomorrow when we bowl to Sachin. Hollies wasn't that the name?" Perth Scorchers coach Langer smiled and asked the scribes to confirm the name of the English leggie.
"Well, I love watching Sachin bat and wish he never gets out. But tomorrow, I won't like him to score too many runs. Even at this age of 42 (40), he batted in the nets for two hours the other day. That was incredible," said Langer, who has played many times against Tendulkar, in Test matches in India and Down Under.
For Langer, "the toughest test for any Aussie cricketer is playing India in India."
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