The Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Pune Warriors India (PWI) will play against each other for the first time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013. The match will be played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday.
Overview:
The MI lost the opening match of IPL 2013 to Royal Challengers Bangalore but bounced back and won the next two matches convincingly. They put up a total of 209 runs in the previous match against Delhi Daredevils and look unstoppable at the moment.
The PWI will be high on confidence following the win against the Rajasthan Royals in the previous game after losing the first two matches. Boasting of some explosive hitters in the side, PWI will be keen to win Saturday's game.
Previous Meetings:
The teams have met four times in the past and MI won on three occasions. PWI defeated MI at their home ground in IPL 2012.
Team News:
Mumbai Indians: Dream openers Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting have not delivered but wicket keeper Dinesh Karthik's form is terrific, scoring half centuries on two occasions. Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu too have given reasonable contribution.
They are a good bowling side with experienced players like Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel and Kieron Pollard. Jasprit Bumrah, who took three wickets in the first match, is the new find of the team.
Pune Warriors India: Aaron Finch and Robin Uthappa gave a good start in the previous against the Rajasthan Royals, which they won. They will be expected to give a similar start on Saturday so that the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Ross Taylor can add some quick runs.
PWI have strong batting line-up but their main worry is their bowling department. They have bowlers like Ashok Dinda, Marlon Samuels, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Angelo Mathews and Rahul Sharma but their performances so far have been far from satisfactory.
Prediction:
PWI boast of destructive batsmen but MI look unstoppable at the moment. MI should win on Saturday.
SQUADS
Mumbai Indians: Ricky Ponting (captain), Abu Nechim Ahmed, Akshar Patel, Aditya Tare, Aiden Blizzard, Ambati Rayudu, Amitoze Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Harbhajan Singh, Jacob Oram, Jalaj Saxena, James Franklin, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Munaf Patel, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Phil Hughes, Pawan Suyal, Pragyan Ojha, Rishi Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Suryakumar Yadav, Sushant Marathe, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal.
Pune Warriors India: Angelo Mathews (c), Aaron Finch, Abhishek Nayar, Ajantha Mendis, Ali Murtaza, Anustup Majumdar, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dheeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Harpreet Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Kane Richardson, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Luke Wright, Mahesh Rawat, Manish Pandey, Marlon Samuels, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas, Parveez Rasool, Rahul Sharma, Raiphi Gomez, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Shrikant Wagh, Steve Smith, Tirumalasetti Suman, Tamim Iqbal, Udit Birla, Yuvraj Singh, Wayne Parnell
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 4:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
