The Pune Warriors India (PWI) will take on Mumbai Indians (MI) at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune on Saturday. It is the 58th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 and the second meeting for the teams.
Overview:
MI thrashed PWI by 41 runs in their previous meeting this season. The Pune franchise will be looking forward to avenge the huge defeat before the home crowd on Saturday.
PWI are out of the competition, performing poorly since the start of the tournament despite having a good batting line-up. They are at the bottom of the table with just four points, winning only two of the 12 matches played. Their only consolation will be to stop the eight-match losing streak and entertain their supporters by winning the remaining games.
MI are placed third on the table with 16 points after winning eight of the 12 games played. They beat Kolkata Knight Riders by a huge 65-run margin in their previous match. Knowing that a win could possibly place them in the position to make it to the Play-Offs, they will be keen to win the remaining games.
Previous Meetings:
The MI have 4-1 win-loss record against PWI in their five meetings so far. In their recent meeting this season, MI defeated PWI by 41 runs.
Team News:
Pune Warriors India: Opener Robin Uthappa is in good form and skipper Aaron Finch have performed well this season though he failed in the last couple of matches. Yuvraj Singh, Mitchell Marsh and Angelo Mathews too have contributed but they have scored big till now. Uthappa and Finch will expected to give a good start.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets and Mitchell Marsh took two in the previous match. They have Ashok Dinda, Mitchell Marsh, Abhishek Nayar, Rahul Sharma and Ajantha Mendis in the line-up but their bowling attack has been far from impressive this season.
Mumbai Indians: Dwayne Smith (47), Sachin Tendulkar (48) and Dinesh Karthik (34) helped the team post a total of 170 runs in the previous match which they won. Tendulkar's return to form will boost their confidence. With Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard too in good form, they will be expected to put up a big score on the board.
Just on the back of bowling out the most favoured title contenders - Chennai Super Kings - for just 79 runs, the MI bowlers repeated yet another good show by restricting the score of Kolkata Knight Riders to 105 in the previous match. Mitchell Johnson's performance this season has been lethal, and he took two wickets in the previous game too. Harbhajan Singh is slowly getting his rhythm right, taking three wickets against KKR. Lasith Malinga and Pragyan Ojha too are taking wickets regular.
Prediction:
MI are a well balanced team with good batting line-up and bowling attack. They are the favourites to win on Saturday.
SQUADS:
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
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
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 4:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
