Struggling Chennai desperate for revival

Match facts

Wednesday, March 31
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)

	Kevin Pietersen returns to bolster an already formidable Bangalore outfit (file photo) © AFP
Related Links Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: Chennai Super Kings | India | Royal Challengers Bangalore

Big picture

Chennai Super Kings have lost four matches in a row, but what would have been most disappointing in their most recent defeat - to Rajasthan Royals - will be the manner in which they were outplayed. In each of their three previous reverses, Chennai were in with a chance for a good chunk, but they hardly ever looked like controlling the match against Rajasthan after the opening burst from Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha.

The bowling remains a massive source of concern, with players like L Balaji and R Ashwin, who impressed early this season, proving expensive in the past few matches. The batting is less of a worry, but Chennai will toy with the idea of sending the big-hitting Albie Morkel slightly higher up the order - many of his chances this season have been with the match already gone.

Their opponents, Royal Challengers Bangalore, have lesser concerns, after a superb start to the campaign has lifted them to second spot and a healthy net run-rate. They are coming off a week's break, during which Kevin Pietersen and Cameron White have joined the squad. They have already defeated Chennai once this season, and will aim for a repeat to distance themselves from the mid-table pack (four other teams have either the same points or two less than Bangalore).

Form guide (most recent first)

Chennai Super Kings LLLLW
Royal Challengers LWWWW

Team talk

Only two bowlers look certain picks for Chennai: Muttiah Muralitharan and left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati. Seamer Thilan Thushara also had a good match against Rajasthan and could get another game. A slew of injuries has reduced the options for a team whose policy was to sign on free-stroking allrounders, which means Morkel could be persisted with. MS Dhoni will have a hard time choosing the Indian quick bowler from one of Balaji, Joginder Sharma, Manpreet Gony and Sudeep Tyagi.

Bangalore have been a settled side, making no changes since the second game. The arrival of Pietersen, though, means Eoin Morgan is going to make way. One argument against that move will be that if Morgan is left out, Bangalore are likely to be a team with 11 right-hand batsmen.

Previously.

Bangalore 4 Chennai 2

The latest encounter between the two teams was last week at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where Chennai's bowlers did well for most of the innings until Robin Uthappa's fireworks powered Bangalore to a winning total.

In the spotlight

Kevin Pietersen was Vijay Mallya's big-ticket signing in 2009 to galvanise Bangalore from a 'Test' team into a dynamic Twenty20 outfit. Bangalore were uninspiring under Pietersen in the early part of the IPL last season, and their transformation into a capable IPL side came only after his departure for England duties. The coming weeks present him a chance to show Indian crowds his Twenty20 skills.

Dale Steyn v Matthew Hayden: When the two teams met last week, Hayden had the confidence to walk down the track to take on Steyn, who was regularly crossing the 150kmh mark. Wednesday will be another chance to watch the imposing batsman take on the top-class fast bowler

Prime numbers

• Matthew Hayden is only 24 runs short of becoming the third batsman (after Adam Gilchrist and Suresh Raina) to make 1000 runs in the IPL
• Anil Kumble's winning percentage of 68.75 as captain is the highest among all players who have led in at least 10 matches

The chatter

"True, the momentum has had a negative impact on us, but Twenty20 is very fickle. The momentum can quickly change. It all boils down to individual players challenging themselves to lift their game."
Matthew Hayden

"As a captain, it is a tough job for me with KP (Pietersen) and White having joined us. We need to take a different approach from here on and also have to decide how to fit in these two players."
Anil Kumble

Siddarth Ravindran is a sub-editor at Cricinfo

Johnson grabs 10 to seal series success

Australia 231 & 511 for 8 dec beat New Zealand 264 & 302 (Guptill 58, McCullum 51, Johnson 6-73) by 176 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Mitchell Johnson finishes his Test summer on a high with 6 for 73 © Getty Images
Related Links News : Deserving Johnson earns a rest News : Ponting looks to the Ashes after undefeated summer News : Vettori faces same old problems Bulletin : 4th day bulletin Players/Officials: Doug Bollinger | Martin Guptill | Mitchell Johnson | Brendon McCullum Matches: New Zealand v Australia at Hamilton Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of New Zealand Teams: Australia | New Zealand

Mitchell Johnson achieved his second ten-wicket match haul in Tests to finish off New Zealand before lunch as Australia swept to a 2-0 series victory. New Zealand resumed at 185 for 5 chasing a record-breaking target of 479, but Johnson and Doug Bollinger dismissed them for 302 to secure a 176-run victory.

Johnson was responsible for causing the early damage in the pursuit on day four when his high-speed spells gained three wickets and he backed up with another three. The 6 for 73 followed his 4 for 59 in the first innings and gave him 12 victims for the series. The performance ensured Australia finished an unbeaten summer with seven wins in eight Tests.

The hosts started well through Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum, who combined for 87, but they could not push on after their half-centuries and the game was lost following some late heavy hitting from Tim Southee. Southee blasted 45 from 25 balls, with seven fours and a six, and was the last-man out when he found Michael Clarke at deep point off Nathan Hauritz.

McCullum was the biggest hope of a big score and he mixed attacking patches with periods of defence in his 51. After being hit on the hand by Johnson in the second over of the day, he waited and gained some revenge when he struck the bowler for three consecutive fours. The first was a streaky edge, but a crisp shot through point and a flashing drive through cover ensured some points for the batsman.

Simon Katich dropped McCullum twice, at short leg on 30 and short cover on 43, but the mistakes were wiped out when Bollinger took the new ball. Bollinger pushed McCullum on to the back foot and he squirted an edge to Michael Hussey in the gully.

Australia remained focused despite the early delays and after McCullum's boundary burst Johnson and Hauritz delivered six consecutive maidens. Guptill was also determined and wanted to bat through the innings, but his resistance ended on 58 when he slashed at Johnson and Ricky Ponting collected a sharp take to his left at second slip. Guptill had eased a drive through mid-on for four off Bollinger and he later brought up his half-century with a boundary from a push through cover off the same bowler.

Bollinger added his second wicket with Jeetan Patel's edge to Marcus North at third slip before Southee helped inflate his figures to 2 for 87 off 16 overs. Southee pulled a six to start a Bollinger over that went for 12 and slogged four boundaries in a row in his next effort, which cost 17. It allowed New Zealand some smiles at the end of a difficult series.

Peter English is the Australasia editor of Cricinfo

Lasith Malinga, Saurabh Tiwary star in thrilling Mumbai win

Mumbai Indians 164 for 6 (Dhawan 50, Tiwary 31) beat Kings XI Punjab 163 (Marsh 57, Malinga 4-22) by four wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Lasith Malinga's four-for helped Mumbai Indians to their sixth victory in this IPL, and inflicted a sixth defeat on Kings XI Punjab © Indian Premier League
Related Links Players/Officials: Shikhar Dhawan | Lasith Malinga | Shaun Marsh | Rajagopal Sathish | Saurabh Tiwary Matches: Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab at Mumbai (BS) Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India | Kings XI Punjab | Mumbai Indians

A dry slow pitch and the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar, on whom Mumbai Indians tend to depend far too much, combined to produce a thrilling game that concluded in the last over at the Brabourne Stadium. Set a target of 164 after Lasith Malinga had restricted Kings XI Punjab with a four-for, Mumbai stumbled at various points of the chase but found enough vital contributions to clinch the game with three balls to spare. Shikhar Dhawan laid the platform with a half-century, Saurabh Tiwary lifted Mumbai with a breezy 31 just when it seemed they might lose their way, and R Sathish produced the final flourish to push them past the line and take them a step closer towards a semi-final berth .

Mumbai needed 19 from the final two overs but Sathish produced two skillful hits to the ropes - an inside-out shot over covers and a whip-lash square drive - off Ravi Bopara, and Saurabh Tiwary thrashed a straight boundary to leave themselves six to get of the final over. Sathish held his nerves to collect couple of driven two's and Brett Lee fired a wide down the leg side, as Punjab slipped to their sixth defeat in the tournament.

It wasn't quite a quality game, but it made for interesting viewing. Despite a composed fifty from Dhawan, Mumbai dawdled in the chase to reach a situation where they needed 57 from 33 balls. It was at this point that the game started to turn in their favour. Tiwary slog-swept Piyush Chawla for a six and Ambati Rayudu pulled the same bowler to the wide long-on boundary to reduce the equation to 46 from 30 balls. However, Bopara, who bowled medium pace not dissimilar to Chris Harris, slipped in a few tight overs in the company of the equally impressive Shalabh Srivastava.

And when Bopara picked up the vital wicket of Dwayne Bravo with a slower one and Srivastava bowled a few dot balls, the equation read 27 from 15 balls. It was a make or a break moment, and Tiwary forced Mumbai ahead with a fierce flat-batted six over long-off off Srivastava; Sathish settled the issue in the next over with his strikes against Bopara.

Match Meter MI Double-strike: In the 16th over, Malinga induced Irfan to miscue a drive and Harbhajan took an excellent catch. The next ball, Marsh was bowled by a superb yorker and Punjab were kept to 163. KXIP The big scalp: Tendulkar charged out to lift Chawla over the straight boundary but the ball gripped and turned to force him to hole out to long-on. KXIP The fall of Bravo: Bravo did loft Bopara for a six but fell the next ball, fooled by a slower one to hand a catch back to the bowler. Mumbai were five down, needing 31 in three overs. MI The final rush: 27 needed off 15. Tiwary swung the game with a fierce flat-batted six. In the next over, Sathish hit two boundaries followed by Tiwary's bludgeon down the ground, which made it six off the final over. Advantage Honours even

It was a chase that ebbed and flowed right from the start. Dhawan had started it with two boundaries in Lee's first over but Srivastava bowled a tight over to keep Tendulkar quiet. It was the first sign that things might not be so easy for Mumbai. Chawla then struck a big blow, luring Tendulkar to hole out to long-on in the sixth over to push Mumbai to 42 for 1. Dhawan and Kieron Pollard pushed Mumbai forward but Pollard holed out to long-on, and Dhawan to long-off, to leave their team struggling at 91 for 3 from 11.4 overs. But they found enough firepower from the lower middle-order to clinch their sixth win.

Just as they allowed things to drift a touch in the chase, they had earlier allowed Punjab to stretch the target. Malinga had sizzled with three wickets from four balls, which included a perfect yorker to knock out Shaun Marsh, the only batsman who offered some resistance, as Mumbai restricted Punjab to 163. But you couldn't escape the feeling that had Mumbai produced their top game, Punjab would have struggled to get past 125.

Barring Marsh, Punjab's batsmen looked woefully out of touch. With the exception of Sachin Tendulkar, who was visibly agitated with his team-mates on a few occasions, Mumbai's men seemed to lack intensity in the first half of the game. The fielding was largely shoddy, with the irregular keeper Ambati Rayudu setting the tone, but they lifted their game after the first time-out and had enough skill with their bowling to restrict Punjab to a gettable score.

If Punjab got anywhere close to a decent score, they have only Marsh to thank for. This was his first IPL game this season but he looked in good touch right from the start. He collected four boundaries in his first ten balls, with a peachy on-the-up on drive against Ryan McLaren being the highlight. Regular fall of wickets, though, forced him to slow down and drop anchor. As witnessed in the first IPL, he kept things really simple: He stayed still on the leg-stump guard, preferring to stay completely beside the line of the ball, and played his drives. There was one big hit as well, when he went down on his knee to swing a slower one from Pollard from outside off over the long-on boundary; but for the majority of his innings, he drove along the ground.

He didn't find much support from his team-mates, though. Mahela Jayawardene struggled to get the ball off the turf initially and had problems running between the wickets. A run-out seemed inevitable and that's how he went in the end. Bopara missed a full and straight ball from Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh shovelled a slower one from Bravo straight to short fine-leg. Even Irfan Pathan, who has batted really well in this tournament, failed to convert a start. To his credit though, it took a good catch from Harbhajan Singh, running to his right from midwicket, to end his stay. And when Marsh fell next ball, Punjab were tottering at 124 for 6 from 16 overs before Piyush Chawla pushed them past 160, which proved inadequate, but only just.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Indian Premier League 2009/10 / Fixtures

Date and Time	Match	Weather
2010
Fri Mar 12 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	1st match - Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai	N/A
Sat Mar 13 09:30 GMT | 15:00 local 15:00 IST	2nd match - Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai	N/A
Sat Mar 13 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	3rd match - Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh	N/A
Sun Mar 14 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	4th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Sun Mar 14 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	5th match - Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Mon Mar 15 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	6th match - Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad	N/A
Tue Mar 16 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	7th match - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Tue Mar 16 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	8th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Wed Mar 17 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	9th match - Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Thu Mar 18 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	10th match - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Fri Mar 19 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	11th match - Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Fri Mar 19 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	12th match - Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab Barabati Stadium, Cuttack	N/A
Sat Mar 20 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	13th match - Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad	N/A
Sat Mar 20 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	14th match - Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai	N/A
Sun Mar 21 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	15th match - Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils Barabati Stadium, Cuttack	N/A
Sun Mar 21 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	16th match - Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Mon Mar 22 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	17th match - Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai	N/A
Tue Mar 23 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	18th match - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Wed Mar 24 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	19th match - Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh	N/A
Thu Mar 25 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	20th match - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Thu Mar 25 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	21st match - Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai	N/A
Fri Mar 26 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	22nd match - Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad	N/A
Sat Mar 27 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	23rd match - Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh	N/A
Sun Mar 28 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	24th match - Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad	N/A
Sun Mar 28 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	25th match - Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai	N/A
Mon Mar 29 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	26th match - Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Tue Mar 30 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	27th match - Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai	24 - 31° C Forecast Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Wed Mar 31 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	28th match - Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	26 - 34° C Forecast Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Wed Mar 31 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	29th match - Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	22 - 37° C Forecast Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Thu Apr 1 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	30th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers Eden Gardens, Kolkata	26 - 38° C Forecast Partly Cloudy Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Fri Apr 2 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	31st match - Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh	17 - 32° C Forecast Mostly Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Sat Apr 3 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	32nd match - Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	26 - 36° C Forecast Mostly Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Sat Apr 3 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	33rd match - Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai	25 - 33° C Forecast Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Sun Apr 4 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	34th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab Eden Gardens, Kolkata	26 - 39° C Forecast Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Sun Apr 4 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	35th match - Delhi Daredevils v Royal Challengers Bangalore Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	22 - 37° C Forecast Sunny Click here for 10-day-Forecast
Mon Apr 5 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	36th match - Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur	N/A
Tue Apr 6 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	37th match - Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Wed Apr 7 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	38th match - Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur	N/A
Wed Apr 7 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	39th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Thu Apr 8 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	40th match - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Fri Apr 9 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	41st match - Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh	N/A
Sat Apr 10 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	42nd match - Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur	N/A
Sat Apr 10 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	43rd match - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Sun Apr 11 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	44th match - Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Sun Apr 11 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	45th match - Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur	N/A
Mon Apr 12 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	46th match - Deccan Chargers v Royal Challengers Bangalore Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur	N/A
Tue Apr 13 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	47th match - Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai	N/A
Tue Apr 13 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	48th match - Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Wed Apr 14 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	49th match - Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur	N/A
Thu Apr 15 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	50th match - Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai	N/A
Fri Apr 16 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	51st match - Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala	N/A
Sat Apr 17 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	52nd match - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Sat Apr 17 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	53rd match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Sun Apr 18 10:30 GMT | 16:00 local 16:00 IST	54th match - Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala	N/A
Sun Apr 18 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	55th match - Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi	N/A
Mon Apr 19 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	56th match - Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians Eden Gardens, Kolkata	N/A
Wed Apr 21 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	Semi-Final - TBC v TBC M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Thu Apr 22 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	Semi-Final - TBC v TBC M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore	N/A
Sat Apr 24 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	3rd Place Play-off - TBC v TBC Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai	N/A
Sun Apr 25 14:30 GMT | 20:00 local 20:00 IST	Final - TBC v TBC Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai	N/A
No responsibility is taken by Cricinfo for the accuracy of this information. Weather forecast has been displayed for the next 10 days. Weather powered by

Indian Premier League 2009/10 / Points table

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Mumbai Indians	6	5	1	0	0	10	+1.313	1090/117.3	949/119.1
Royal Challengers Bangalore	6	4	2	0	0	8	+0.961	924/108.4	900/119.2
Rajasthan Royals	7	4	3	0	0	8	+0.112	1120/135.4	1041/127.5
Delhi Daredevils	7	4	3	0	0	8	-0.240	1114/137.0	1165/139.1
Deccan Chargers	6	3	3	0	0	6	-0.369	960/120.0	968/115.4
Kolkata Knight Riders	7	3	4	0	0	6	-0.614	1015/139.2	1094/138.3
Chennai Super Kings	7	2	5	0	0	4	-0.190	1124/139.1	1149/139.0
Kings XI Punjab	6	1	5	0	0	2	-0.771	941/120.0	1022/118.4

Punjab hope for turnaround against powerhouses

Match facts

Tuesday, March 30
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

	Will a temporary change in captaincy bring a change of luck for Punjab? © AFP
Related Links Features : Punjab in need of top-order revival Matches: Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab at Mumbai (BS) Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India | Kings XI Punjab | Mumbai Indians

Big picture

It's a clash of the 'opposites'. With five wins and one loss, Mumbai Indians are in pole position, led by Sachin Tendulkar, who's in imperious touch with the bat. Swap those figures in the 'won' and 'lost' column and you have Kings XI Punjab's woeful campaign so far.

It's hard to look for positives when you've lost five games out of six, your stars aren't performing, the match referee slaps a hefty fine for slow over-rates and bans the captain for a game. Punjab are hurting for more reasons than one, and they will go into tomorrow's game at the Brabourne Stadium without their regular captain, Kumar Sangakkara. His best mate Mahela Jayawardene will take over tomorrow, hoping to script a turnaround and reclaim the sort of consistency which took them to the semi-finals in 2008.

The fact that they've used four opening combinations in six games indicates the insecurity at the top. They could have tried something different by promoting Jayawardene to open. It may be recalled that Jayawardene opened with great success in the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 competition in Sri Lanka which preceded the IPL, scoring 91 off 49 balls in the final for Wayamba. Not many may be aware that it's a role he enjoys, but captains prefer him in the middle order.

It's all the more perplexing because Sangakkara witnessed, first hand, the ease with which Jayawardene batted in Sri Lanka, and a similar promotion in the IPL could have worked. Whether Jayawardene promotes himself or not remains to be seen, but on the bright side, Punjab will give a red-carpet welcome to the face of their 2008 success - Shaun Marsh. The Australian, who missed last season due to hamstring injury, has arrived in India and should walk in to the line-up.

According to Jayawardene and coach Tom Moody, the pre-match chatter has been about momentum and doing the little things right. Here's what Moody had to say: "The thing that positive momentum gives you is to go out there and play without fearing failure. That is what the good teams do at the moment. Last night Harbhajan gave Mumbai Indians the total they felt would win them the match. In a period of negative momentum they would have never got the total they have got and would have been bowled out for 130."

It's that fighting spirit that defined Mumbai's latest win on Sunday. At 119 for 7 in the 17th over against Deccan Chargers, they were headed towards an insipid total but Harbhajan Singh changed all that with an 18-ball 49. His innings shut Deccan out of the game and gave Mumbai self belief when they took the ball. Punjab have enough players with ability. All they need is some confidence.

Form guide (most recent first)

Kings XI Punjab LLWLL
Mumbai Indians WWWLW

Team talk

For Punjab, Marsh comes in as the overseas replacement for Sangakkara, and Juan Theron, the South African medium pacer, will also play. If they retain Brett Lee, then Ravi Bopara may have to sit out for Theron. Assistant coach Trevor Penney has said that Sreesanth has been left out of the fifteen as they've opted to pick their squad on a match-by-match basis. Yuvraj Singh is nursing a sore wrist, but he's likely to be fit for tomorrow.

Mumbai, on the other hand, have no injuries and should go in with the same line-up.

Previously…

Punjab 3 Mumbai 1
Mumbai have a score to settle. In their first meeting last year , in Durban, Yusuf Abdulla helped Punjab clinch a last-over thriller. Few would have given them a chance after they managed just 119. Despite Duminy's composed fifty, Mumbai fell short by three runs. But Mumbai fought back with an easy eight-wicket win in Centurion. In 2008, they played out a thriller in Mumbai , with Punjab winning by one run. Punjab won the first ever encounter between the two teams by 66 runs.

Prime numbers

Save for the 129-run stand between Manvinder Bisla and Bopara against Bangalore, Punjab's other opening stands read - 5, 10, 18, 41, 0.

Tendulkar needs just eight runs to claim the Orange Cap from Bangalore's Jacques Kallis

In the spotlight

Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan: The Indian stars had a forgettable outing against Kolkata Knight Riders when a lot was expected of them. Irfan is a useful floater in the batting line-up but he's in the team primarily for his bowling. After a decent start, he leaked 21 runs off his final over and Punjab had already lost the mental battle. Yuvraj got going with a glorious straight driven six but when he attempted another massive hit, perished to a fine catch.

Yorkers: Mumbai have the bowlers in Lasith Malinga and Zaheer Khan to crush toes at raw pace. That tactic proved effective against Kolkata, where they managed to keep the runs down. Punjab will have to be prepared for a barrage of yorkers.

The chatter

"Honestly, there is no disunity. We can pinpoint quite a few places where it is going wrong but in a team environment it is all momentum. We had good starts at the top of the order, but none of us continued to bat. You see lot of the top teams playing consistently you see one or two guys batting consistently at least till the 15th over. We haven't done that.."
Jayawardene assures that all is well off the field, and they're problems are purely cricketing

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a sub-editor at Cricinfo