Eye on semis, Mumbai up for Lions’ challenge

Stuck mid-table after losing their CLT20 Group A opener to Rajasthan Royals last week and then seeing the game against Otago Volts literally go down the drain at Ahmedabad, the Mumbai Indians now have a clear-cut task facing them in the race for the semi-finals, starting with Friday’s night game against the Highveld Lions here. The Royals have two wins in as many games and the red-hot Volts look to be the side to beat in this cluster, but Rohit Sharma’s team know that with the struggling Lions and Perth Scorchers up next, they are still in with a shout. Big wins in these two games could well reverse their fortunes, and with a better net run rate, they could still make the last four, especially if the Volts put it past Rajasthan and open up the standings. Friday’s game thus, could help the Indians regain some traction. On paper, this is a no-contest especially with the South Africans unable to muster a worthwhile batting ensemble and Mumbai literally bursting at the seams with quality willow-wielders led by the redoubtable Sachin Tendulkar and the skipper. “Every match is important in this tournament because you get only four games,” said Sharma here on Thursday. “And we have lost one of those with another washed out. The two games ahead of us are very important now, and we know we have to win both. “We just need to play our game and if we do that, we’ll have a good chance of winning, because we have the players for it. In the last game that we played here, I don’t think we put up a bad performance. Maybe we could have scored 10-15 runs more, and if we had done that, the result might have been different.” Given the conditions here, Mumbai will look up to their fast men — Mitchell Johnson, Rishi Dhawan and Nathan Coulter-Nile in particular — to deliver first up with Kieron Pollard and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha behind them. Johnson worked up immense early pace against the Royals here and while that may not worry teams from South Africa, he is capable of inflicting damage on his day. Coulter-Nile’s nagging pace and high delivery is the ideal foil for his fellow-Aussie while Himachal boy Dhawan is capable of hurrying the best. Also, with the inexperienced Lions batting dependent on skipper Alviro Petersen to show them the way, and Neil McKenzie a mystery absentee from Wednesday’s game, this lack of depth could work in Mumbai’s favour. Sharma disagreed. “I was watching the game yesterday and Rajasthan Royals scored 180-plus. It’s a good batting wicket, so we don’t need to think what the opposition is like. We would rather take out time to think about what we need to do than think about what the opposition has got. It will be important to focus on what we need to do.”

Mumbai vs Lions, 8 pm Live on Star Sports