 Mumbai Indians looking for revenge against Kings XI Punjab
20th May 2008 14:03 IST
Agencies
Mumbai Indians, on a roll with six successive wins under their belt and thirsting for revenge for their previous loss, take on second-placed Kings XI Punjab in an engrossing tussle in hot and humid conditions at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The visiting team, depending on homegrown bowling talent for the most part after the departure of Australian pace ace Brett Lee, would be up against the likes of the wily Shaun Pollock and his South African compatriot Andre Nel, the temperamental pacer with the ability to extract good bounce.
Punjab XI's opening pair of the highly impressive Shaun Marsh and fellow-Australian James Hopes need to get off to a good start on what's expected to be another bouncy and pacy track to help their side, sitting pretty with 14 points, notch their third straight win after the loss to Chennai Super Kings on May 10.
Marsh has been particularly impressive in the Twenty20 tournament and has the back-up support of classy Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, his compatriot Kumar Sangakkara (if fit) and the under-performing skipper Yuvraj Singh in the top order to face up to the challenge posed by Pollock, Nel, Lankan Dilhara Fernando, who played in their previous tie in place of Pollock - and the highly inconsistent Ashish Nehra.
Mumbai Indians, fourth in the table, would be eager to settle the score against the visitors to whom they lost by 66 runs in their away match on April 25 at Mohali after which came the infamous 'slapgate' leading to then stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh's ban from the event.
Things have changed drastically for the hosts since that day with Sachin Tendulkar having regained his fitness to lead the side which is now on a purple streak.
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