Mumbai Indians

At the start of this year’s Indian Premier League, West Indian Lendl Simmons was without a franchise despite being a very talented Twenty20 player.

He was only acquired by the Mumbai Indians at the end of April as a replacement for Jalaj Saxena after a poor run of scores in the shortest form.

However, he came roaring back for the Indians and played one of the best innings of this year’s IPL against Kings XI Punjab, scoring an unbeaten 100 to take his side home by seven wickets.

It was a scintillating yet well-paced innings that took 61 deliveries and contained 14 fours and just two sixes, with an impressive strike rate of 163.93.

A target of 159 for victory could have been tricky for Mumbai, but Simmons’ knock made it comfortable and should give him the momentum he needs to rediscover his best form and consistency.

Opening Phase: Balls 1-20

In just the first over Simmons looked to be in good shape, as he hammered three fours from a loose first over delivered by Sandeep Sharma to send the Indians off to a roaring start.

After such a superb beginning, he then chose to consolidate somewhat and take the easy singles and twos so as to find his footwork and build confidence further.

However, Simmons plundered three more boundaries from the bowling of Beuran Hendricks in the fourth over, as the South African struggled to find both his line and length.

After 20 balls, Simmons had already managed 34 runs in what was a healthy and productive start that combined aggressive boundary hitting with canny manipulation of the field.

Middle Phase: Balls 21-40

In the second part of his innings, Simmons began with a flurry of boundaries to go careering past 40, then brought up his half-century with a quick single into the covers.

From there, he was not required to do anything spectacular and did not, hitting a boundary from each of the next three overs to keep the scoreboard racing along.

His first maximum came from his 37th ball, as he clouted the off-spin of Shivam Sharma over long-on to move past 70 runs.

After 40 balls, at the end of the middle phase of his innings, Simmons had 75 runs with 13 fours and one six.

Tellingly, it was also the midway stage of Mumbai’s innings, with the Indians 96-1 after 10 overs and having lost opener Mike Hussey for just six runs from 13 balls.

Final Phase: Balls 41-61

As Mumbai moved swiftly towards their victory target, Simmons continued to punish all the width on offer to him while also running quick singles with regularity.

Even from the dot balls—of which there were few—he looked to be positive, and while this resulted in some swipes that saw him not make contact with the ball, Simmons was clearly on song.

Simmons' second six came off the unfortunate Sharma in the 15th over, which would prove to be his final boundary as a series of singles followed to take him past 90.

Then, on 99, Simmons clipped a single to bring up his century in what will have been an immensely satisfying innings, with Kieron Pollard hitting the winning runs from the following delivery.

Despite the lack of boundaries late on, the Indians never looked in any danger of missing their target, while Simmons was clearly relishing the opportunity to enjoy a longer innings than he has had of late.

Simmons’ century was his first in all T20 cricket and leaves Mumbai fifth in the table but four points off the playoffs.

He will want many more innings like this to help the Indians into the postseason, although opportunities to do so are limited.

The Indian Premier League teased its fans on Wednesday as it coughed up two games that were poles apart. The first match, between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab, saw the latter chasing down 206 like a stroll in the park, with eight balls to spare, after choosing to bat second, in a game that was loaded with 33 fours and as many as 26 sixes.

However, that was followed by what can be only be described as a snorefest. Mumbai Indians, being put in to bat, scratchily ambled along to 141 for five, before Kolkata Knight Riders also chased their target down with 10 balls to spare.

While Hyderabad could be forgiven for giving it their best, Mumbai looked hapless on the field. The loss marked their seventh defeat of the season in 10 matches played and meant they stayed put at their spot second from bottom in the table with just four more games to go.

A mathematical possibility exists of yet making it to the playoffs, but even the most optimistic Mumbai supporter would not believe it to be possible.

Apart from their game against Delhi Daredevils—the only team who have looked more miserable than them—three out of Mumbai's next four matches are against teams in the current top three—two games against Rajasthan Royals and one against the table-toppers, Kings XI Punjab.

Another loss would surely confirm that the defending champions are out of the reckoning for the playoffs.

So, how did Mumbai get here? Where did it go wrong?

Well, for one, they had a horrid auction. They chose to let go of Glenn Maxwell, the current leading run scorer; Dwayne Smith, the second-highest run scorer; Mitchell Johnson, the most consistent and in-form fast bowler in the world in recent times; and Dinesh Karthik, one of their most consistent run scorers and reliable No. 3 batsman last season.

To add salt to their wounds, even squad players such as spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and all-rounder Rishi Dhawan, both of whom played for Mumbai last season, are performing well this year for their respective franchises.

Mumbai were left with a squad relying heavily on heavyweights Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard and skipper Rohit Sharma to bail them out. As they soon realised, a stronger unit is more effective than strong individuals.

What's worse, Malinga on Wednesday played his last match for MI, as he will be joining the Sri Lankan team on their tour of the United Kingdom. This leaves Mumbai's bowling attack all the more toothless, with Zaheer Khan already having withdrawn from the season due to an injury.

Malinga finished his IPL 2014 campaign with 16 wickets from 10 games—the third-highest tally overall. The next Mumbai Indians player on the list is Harbhajan Singh with eight scalps.

While Harbhajan has bowled tight spells and restricted the flow of runs, wickets win matches in Twenty20 cricket, and this is an area where Mumbai have been found wanting, apart from Malinga of course.

The available options for Malinga's replacement include Australia's Josh Hazlewood, South Africa's Marchant de Lange and West Indian Krishmar Santokie. While all three are budding fast bowlers and have just about started to produce results, their inexperience in this high-pressure environment could further dent Mumbai's hopes of a strong finish to the season. Not that they're left with any other choice.

Until last season, and especially last season, it was MI's batting that had always been the envy of other teams, with names such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Smith and Pollard. This season, being left with just two of the above five, Mumbai's batting reputation has taken a serious hit.

The team has crossed the 160-mark, considered the par score in IPL, only once out of the six times they've batted this season. Needless to say, they won that game and lost the rest. While batting second, Mumbai have performed a little better, twice chasing down totals of 155 and above.

All three of their wins this season have come when they scored a minimum of 160 runs.

As this writer had noted in an earlier column, Mumbai don't seem to have a game plan while batting.

Their top order has failed miserably: The highest first-wicket partnership so far in 10 matches is 25. Compare this to the previous seasons when players such as Smith and Tendulkar used to provide blistering starts, after which the middle order picked up.

The biggest criticism of Mumbai's batting this year has been their line-up. Pollard, easily their most explosive and match-winning batsman, has not batted higher than No. 5 even once—not even on occasions when the team was finding it hard to score runs in the middle overs.

Ambati Rayudu and skipper Sharma have begun to find their form a bit too late in the season, Corey Anderson remains a major liability and a waste of a crucial top-four spot (albeit due to lack of choice, which again stems back to the poor auction), and the others in the top seven have just been too inconsistent with their scoring.

A lack of depth in the squad has hurt Mumbai this season, and there's not much they can do now, especially with just five matches to go. A good place to start would be getting their basics right, playing freely and taking individual onus to perform for the team, rather than leaving it for the star players.

Defending champions Mumbai boosted their hopes of reaching the Indian Premier League play-offs with a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The Indians recorded just their third win in nine games as they chased down 158 with eight balls to spare at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal.

Hyderabad are tied for the fourth and final play-off position, two points better off than their conquerors, with five games to play.

The hosts, who won the toss and chose to bat, made 157-3 in their 20 overs with Australians Aaron Finch and David Warner leading the way.

Opener Finch made 68 from 62 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes before he fell in the penultimate over.

He put on 63 for the fourth wicket with his compatriot Warner who smashed an unbeaten 55 from 31 balls.

After losing opener Chidhambaram Gautam in the second over, Lendl Simmons and Ambati Rayudu put on 130 for the second wicket in Mumbai's reply.

West Indian Simmons crashed four sixes in making 68 from 50 balls.

He fell in the 16th over and Rayudu went in the next, after making the same score from four balls fewer.

However, Rohit Sharma hit half the six balls he faced to the boundary to see his side over the line.

The Indians are back in action on Wednesday against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Cuttack while Hyderabad host Kings XI Punjab earlier that day.

Two teams enjoying wildly different fortunes in the Indian Premier League face off in Mumbai, as the Mumbai Indians welcome the Chennai Super Kings.

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Date: Saturday, May 10

Start time: 3:30 p.m. BST

Live on: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), ITV4 (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN (UAE) SkyTV (New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omni (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore).

Weather: According to Weather.com, Mumbai promises to be mostly sunny with some clouds around, while temperatures should peak at 31 degrees Celsius.

Overview

The Mumbai Indians have had a poor 2014 campaign, but they might have gotten things back on track with victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore by 19 runs last time out.

Mumbai batted first and made a superb 187-5 from their 20 overs, thanks in large part to an unbeaten 59 from captain Rohit Sharma and 43 from Kieron Pollard.

In reply, Bangalore were looking likely for victory but were reined in over the last few overs to finish on 168-8, with Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga taking two wickets apiece for the Indians.

Meanwhile, Chennai were defeated for just the second time in 2014, as they went down to Kings XI Punjab by 44 runs in Cuttack.

Punjab batted first and made a staggering 231-4 from their 20 overs, dominated once again by Glenn Maxwell as the Chennai bowlers struggled for any impact.

In reply, the Super Kings gave it a good go, with Faf du Plessis scoring a scintillating 52 from 25 deliveries, but they fell short and finished on 187-6 in their innings.

With these two at opposite ends of the table and having had an unexpected result last time out, this could be a fascinating encounter.

Team News

Mumbai Indians (from): Rohit Sharma (capt.), Corey Anderson, Jasprit Bumrah, Marchant de Lange, Ben Dunk, Chidhambaram Gautam, Shreyas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Michael Hussey, Praveen Kumar, Lasith Malinga, Sushant Marathe, Pragyan Ojha, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Pawan Suyal, Aditya Tare, Apoorv Wankhade.

Chennai Super Kings (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt.), Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Francois du Plessis, Brendon McCullum, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Ben Hilfenhaus, Samuel Badree, Matt Henry, Baba Aparajith, Mithun Manhas, Ishwar Pandey, Pawan Negi, Ronit More, Vijay Shankar, John Hastings.

Key Players

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma remains crucial for his team, both for his leadership and his batting.

If he can continue his good form from his last appearance, the Indians will be in good shape.

Faf du Plessis

One of Chennai’s leading foreign players, Faf du Plessis has the potential to be incredibly explosive in Twenty20 cricket.

The South African is very aggressive with the bat in his hand, and can turn the game seemingly in an instant.

Perhaps it was the familiar confines of the breezy bowl that is the Wankhede Stadium, with the scent of the nearby Arabian Sea and the frequent clunks emanating from the railway tracks running just outside the circumference, which created a congenial environment.

Perhaps it was the deafening cheers and excited chatter of around 18,000 underprivileged children who had been brought to watch the match by the team owners, per NDTV, filling up more than half the stadium and vociferously backing the home side.

Whatever it was, the Mumbai Indians sure were glad to be back home, where they hadn't lost all of last season—a statistic that played a vital role in them eventually lifting their maiden Indian Premier League title.

After a rather horrendous first leg of the seventh season of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates, where the Mumbai Indians lost all five matches played, the odds were heavily stacked against them on Saturday when they took on the table-toppers, Kings XI Punjab, who were unbeaten in five matches.

As it turned out, it was all a case of being poor travelers.

The Mumbai Indians notched their first win of the season on Saturday and opened their account in the table. A spot in the knockouts is still a long way off for the defending champions, but the five-wicket win over the best team so far this season is a start, at least.

Mumbai's performance was by no means vintage. Chasing an imposing 169, they got over the line with five balls to spare and with as many wickets in hand, which looks a comfortable margin statistically, but was one that flattered them.

The positive for Mumbai over the last two games has been their batting, which after four woeful outings finally showed glimpses of their form last season. In their last match in the UAE, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai looked competent in a chase of 173, but faltered at the last hurdle. Kieron Pollard, who had struggled to find runs in the first four matches, scored a whirlwind 78 off 48 balls to take them 15 runs from the target.

On Saturday, back home against Punjab, they were again up against a high target. This time, it wasn't just Pollard (28 not out from 12 balls), but CM Gautam (33 off 29 balls), captain Rohit Sharma (39 off 34 balls) and Corey Anderson (35 off 25 balls) who also decided to turn up. A team effort, which was lacking earlier, got Mumbai over the line.

That being said, Mumbai have shuffled their batting line-up a little too often this season. Not since their second match of the season, against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, have they maintained the same formation.

Now, after finally having won a game, Mumbai would look to maintain this winning combination, albeit batting Pollard, their leading run-scorer this season, as low as No. 6 is a bizarre tactic.

While all the media focus and scrutiny as been on the team's batting, which now seems to be slowly, but rather belatedly, warming up to the season, the bowling has also been a concern, especially when asked to chase. On all three occasions this season that Mumbai have bowled first, they have conceded in excess of 160 runs.

The problem with Mumbai's bowling is that they rely heavily on their best three bowlers: Lasith Malinga, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. The support cast have been quite mediocre, with Anderson, Pollard and Pragyan Ojha all having economy rates in excess of eight runs an over and only five wickets to show between them.

Mumbai's bowlers have struggled to maintain a decent line and length, have conceded many extras (39 in the games they have bowled first) and delivered more juicy full tosses than you would expect from defending champions. Mumbai's batting would sure hope they are not set targets of 160 and above on all occasions, especially considering they need to win almost all their games left to reach the top four.

Mumbai play their next couple of matches at home as well. If they can continue to guard their fortress and get into the mid-table scrum, it would provide them with much-needed winning momentum and set up the latter stages of the league well for the team. What Mumbai would be targeting is an all-round performance, something they haven't managed in a long time.

In Twenty20 cricket, with its hyperbolic, exaggerated presentation, it is easy to forget about the small moments. It is the big ones that remain imprinted on your mind, as much because of their conspicuous importance as the manner of their acclaim on commentary and social media. 

When the Mumbai Indians score 40 off their final 18 balls, Kieron Pollard scores 28 off 12 and Aditya Tare scores 16 off 6 to win a chase of 169 against the Kings XI Punjab with five balls to spare, it is too easy to overlook other performances from other players earlier on in the match that made such an assault possible and pivotal. 

There's no doubting Pollard's blitz and Tare's cameo were the determining factors of Mumbai's victory; a victory that ended their worst-ever losing streak and snapped Kings XI Punjab's eight consecutive wins. But Lasith Malinga, CM Gautam, Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson all played important hands earlier in the match to help lay the platform for the match winners, Pollard and Tare. 

Malinga's influential performance was when he bowled the 20th over of Kings XI Punjab's innings and conceded only three runs. It was an over of such frugality that in a match won by Mumbai with just five balls to spare, it's fair to say that it was pivotal to their victory. 

The 19th over, bowled by Pollard, was hit for 20 with Wriddhiman Saha and David Miller striking sixes, and Kings XI would certainly have been eyeing up another big over with two set batsmen at the crease and just six balls remaining. But each delivery in the final over from Malinga was full and straight—the first two were dot balls, the third a wicket, with two and one scored off the fourth and fifth, and a dot ball to finish.

Malinga has a staggering record in the final five overs of IPL matches, with 71 wickets at an average of just 11. He demonstrated the class that has earned him such a record in those six balls.  

However, bowling has not really been the problem for the Mumbai Indians so far in IPL 7. It has been the batting that has characterised their five consecutive defeats.  

Thus the three innings played by CM Gautam (33 off 29), Rohit Sharma (39 off 34) and Corey Anderson (35 off 25) can be seen to be particularly important to Mumbai's victory. 

As I wrote in my recent team-by-team review, Mumbai are a side whose success has been defined by solid starts and explosive finishes. This season, their explosive players have not been coming in during situations in which they can play their natural game because of the failures of the top order.

Although today MI were again reeling early on at 23-2, the third-wicket partnership between Gautam and Rohit of 47, and the fourth-wicket partnership between Sharma and Anderson of 53 (Mumbai's fourth- and fifth-highest partnerships of the season) added stability to the chase. 

Anderson struck a flurry of boundaries off one Akshar Patel over, and by the time Kieron Pollard came to the crease, Mumbai were 123/4 and required 46 off 27 deliveries at an asking rate of 11 runs per over. Although this was still a steep task, the fact that they were just a Pollard-blitz short of victory was something they had not managed all season. 

Pollard is a pivotal player to Mumbai because of the emphasis placed on him in their predominant strategy. Pollard being in form is paramount if they are to stand any chance of play-off qualification, but he has to be coming to the crease in situations that suit him. On Saturday, that was the case. In that match, as he did against SRH, although in a far more difficult and eventually unsuccessful chase, he fired. 

Admittedly, the strike rates of Gautam (113) and Rohit (114) could be improved upon, and that would have made Pollard's late chase even easier. But before Mumbai start worrying about slightly low strike rates, they need to make sure they are not getting out—something that before today, they were not managing. 

Pollard and Tare won the match for Mumbai today, but Malinga, Gautam, Rohit and Anderson set it up. It is a positive sign that Mumbai's first win has come as a result of a strong team performance. 

There is a joke doing the rounds on social media that the Mumbai Indians should hand their celebrity coaching staff the bat and ball in a bid to rescue their season.

With high-profile names such as Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Anil Kumble, Jonty Rhodes, Robin Singh and John Wright present in the dug-out, the joke goes that this "team" couldn't do any worse than the one being led by Rohit Sharma on the field in the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League.

What a tale of two seasons it has been for the Mumbai Indians.

Almost exactly a year ago, they were in dire straits in a match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, chasing a daunting target of 179.

Mumbai had crawled along to 114 for three in 15 overs, needing 65 runs to win from the last four overs. It was the first time in the season that they were chasing at home, after having won all their matches batting first. The big, burly all-rounder, Kieron Pollard, was at the crease, along with skipper Sharma.

It was here that a button flicked on inside Pollard's 1.96-metre (6'4") frame. The Trinidadian clobbered half a dozen sixes in seven deliveries—including five consecutive maximums—to snatch the game out of Hyderabad’s clutches.

The unbelievable victory, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, pushed Mumbai to the top of the points table. Doing so, they also kept their unbeaten record at home intact.

Cut to the corresponding fixture this season on Wednesday at the Dubai International Stadium—the last match in the United Arab Emirates before the teams return to India.

Mumbai were chasing 173 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and had crawled along to 115 for four in 16 overs, needing 58 off the last four overs. Once again, Pollard was at the crease and was evidently Mumbai's only hope of crossing the line, his partner at the other end being Ambati Rayudu.

Once more, it was at this stage of the innings that the Trinidadian decided to go for broke and clobbered leg-spinner Amit Mishra for 27 runs in the 17th over, bringing the equation down to 31 required off 18.

Unfortunately this time for Mumbai, they were to lose a couple of wickets in the following two overs and leave too much for Pollard to achieve in the final six balls.

Like the previous season, the result of the game—a 15-run loss this time—ensured that Mumbai maintained their streak. Unfortunately for the defending champions, it wasn't one to be proud of. Mumbai have now lost five out of five games played this season, and their hopes of defending their title hang by a thread.

Analysis into where it all went wrong for Mumbai would be available for a dime a dozen, but the more important question is: Where do they go from here? Is there a fix available, for whatever it is worth? Is there the faintest of chances for them to reach the Eliminator match, which is a battle between the third and fourth-placed teams in the league, with a chance to progress further?

Considering the trend of teams needing about eight wins to qualify for the knockouts, Mumbai have little margin for error left, with just nine more games left to play in the season.

Five out of those nine matches are scheduled for their home fortress of Wankhede, where they went unbeaten last season. This includes their next three games—against Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.

If Mumbai can take courage from Wednesday's performance, pick themselves up and win the next three games, then cricket is a funny game—anything is possible. If, of course, they lose any of those three games, it would then be safe to say that their season is over.

Even since the player auctions for the current season were done with in February, Mumbai have been criticised for their lack of vision in buying and retaining the right players.

However, it makes no sense debating over that right now since it's a thing of the past and can't be changed. Mumbai have no choice but to work with the resources they have and somehow get themselves working as a unit.

One of Mumbai's major flaws so far this season has been that they don't seem to have played with a plan, especially the batting. They have been guilty of operating with a laissez-faire attitude: If the openers fail, there's always Sharma to follow.

If he fails as well, there's always Pollard to cover up. If Pollard also fails, trust Lasith Malinga's yorkers to do the trick.

Starting with Sharma (84 runs in five matches), whose form has been a shadow of last season's, when he was the team's leading run-scorer. Each individual needs to shoulder some of the responsibility and work toward the team's target.

In terms of team selection, the think-tank finally decided to ring in the changes at the top of the order, as the underperforming Michael Hussey was dropped for the Hyderabad game, making way for fellow Australian Ben Dunk, while Sharma moved up the order to occupy the other opener's slot.

This was a wise move, since in this shortest format of the game, you need your best batsmen to face the most number of deliveries. However, for that, Sharma will have to start scoring some runs.

All-rounder Corey Anderson (73 runs and three wickets in five matches) is treading on thin ice and ideally should be dropped, but the problem for Mumbai is that they don't have a worthy replacement on the bench.

They could consider giving latest recruit Lendl Simmons, who is an opening batsman, a game, and promote Pollard to No. 4, after Sharma at one-down. Pawan Suyal or Jasprit Bumrah could then come in for the ineffective Pragyan Ojha (one wicket in five games).

So, this is the 11 they could try, with nothing to lose:

Ben Dunk, Lendl Simmons, Rohit Sharma (c), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, CM Gautam (wk), Aditya Tare, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Pawan Suyal/Jasprit Bumrah.

The frustration was evident within the Mumbai camp during the chase on Wednesday when Pollard almost kicked the ball in anger after missing out on a shot, and Rayudu flung his bat to the ground after being denied a run. The eventual fifth loss in a row would have further rubbed salt into the wounds.

Mumbai may not have bench strength in terms of players, but they have enough glitterati within their support staff of coaches, mentors and advisers.

At the end of Wednesday's game, Tendulkar and Co. were seen patting the backs of the players, trying to keep their spirits up. While the team lost the match, it was a much-improved performance compared to their previous four games, and this is what they will have to build on.

Pollard has paved the way for Mumbai launching a rather delayed but necessary comeback into the league. They have a mountain to climb in the table, but even if they do fail to make the top four, a sustained effort in the nine remaining games would do their confidence a load of good.

In the 2010 season, Chennai Super Kings had lost five of their first seven matches, including a run of four consecutive losses. However, the team won five of their next seven games and got through to the top four. They went on to win their maiden title that season.

There is no reason why Mumbai cannot spark a similar revival.

In a game between two Indian Premier League (IPL) sides that have struggled so far, the Delhi Daredevils and the Mumbai Indians face each other on Sunday.

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Date: Sunday, April 27

Start time: 11.30 a.m. BST

Live on: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), ITV4 (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN (UAE) SkyTV (New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omni (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore).

Weather: According to Weather.com, Sharjah should be mostly sunny with temperatures reaching a high of 38 degrees Celsius.

Overview

Delhi have had real issues this year in the IPL and find themselves second-bottom in the table after having played four matches.

They came close to victory in their latest game against Sunrises Hyderabad, but in the end, they fell just short by four runs.

The Daredevils bowlers struggled to contain their opponents first up, with Hyderabad racking up 184-1 in their 20 overs thanks to two superb knocks from Australians Aaron Finch and David Warner.

In reply, openers Murali Vijay and Quinton de Kock combined for a partnership of 99, but the rest of the Daredevils innings fell away alarmingly even with Kevin Pietersen back.

In the end, they fell just short as their innings closed on 180-1, meaning they were defeated by a very narrow margin and find themselves increasingly adrift near the foot of the table.

Mumbai, meanwhile, were comfortably defeated in their last match by seven wickets by the Chennai Super Kings to stay bottom of the table without a win in 2014.

The Indians batted first but could make just 141-7 from their 20 overs with only captain Rohit Sharma passing 50 runs.

In reply, Harbhajan Singh took two wickets, but Mumbai could not stop Chennai marching to a very comfortable victory.

Both teams have endured indifferent starts to this year’s IPL, so they will be determined to get back on track with a win here.

Team News

Delhi Daredevils (from): Kevin Pietersen (capt.), Mayank Agarwal, Dinesh Karthik, Milind Kumar, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Saurabh Tiwary, Murali Vijay, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Jayant Yadav, Siddharth Kaul, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Sharma, HS Sharaf, Rahul Shukla, Jaidev Unadkat, JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock, Ross Taylor, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Wayne Parnell

Mumbai Indians (from): Rohit Sharma (capt.), Chidhambaram Gautam, Sushant Marathe, Aditya Tare, Ambati Rayudu, Apoorv Wankhade, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Jalaj Saxena, Shreyas Gopal, Jasprit Bumrah, Pawan Suyal, Michael Hussey, Ben Dunk, Kieron Pollard, Corey Anderson, Lasith Malinga, Josh Hazlewood, Krishmar Santokie, Marchant de Lange

Key Players

Kevin Pietersen

Having been missing through injury, Pietersen is back and hopeful of making a big impact in this year’s IPL.

The former England batsman has become a freelance Twenty20 cricketer, and he will be determined to stamp his authority here.

Kieron Pollard

He may not have quite found form just yet, but West Indian Pollard will certainly be one to watch here.

With his aggressive batting and seam bowling, he is still one of the premier all-rounders in Twenty20 cricket.

The struggles of the Mumbai Indians in IPL 7 demonstrate the insignificance of quality when strategy is lacking. 

The Indians were one of only two franchises along with the Chennai Super Kings who maxed-out on their retentions prior to this year's auction, holding onto the core of their side in Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga. Yet despite doing so, and despite the stability of personnel such a move engendered, the Indians are floundering. With no wins from three matches, they are festering at the bottom of the table. 

Against the Super Kings in Dubai Friday, Mumbai made a change to their batting order by promoting New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson to No. 3, and shifting Rayudu to more of a floating insurance role—something this column suggested as early as the first match of the season.

That particular move worked okay for MI, with Anderson (39) and Rohit (50) forming a solid middle to their innings. Unfortunately, however, the opening partnership failed to fire, and more disappointingly still, the platform built by Anderson and Rohit was not capitalised on by Rayudu and Pollard in the final overs. 

Admittedly, Rohit and Anderson could have scored faster, and the pressure on Pollard and Rayudu when they came to the crease was palpable, but dealing with such pressure comes with the role of playing late in the innings. Pollard's 11 ball 12 and Rayudu's two ball one saw Mumbai stutter to a below-par 141.

At least Aditya Tare at the top of the innings appears to have been a good strategic move, with him playing another brief, but fluent hand at the top of the order. 

Time appears to be running out for Michael Hussey, who failed again, and with Australian Ben Dunk waiting in the wings, Hussey may have played his last match for a while. 

Dunk really should come into the side in place of Hussey and join Tare at the top of the order, forming a threatening opening partnership. However, batting Anderson at No. 3 leaves that top three a little vulnerable, and I would suggest Rohit moving up to take that important slot. Doing so adds a little bit more quality to the top three—something all good sides need in Twenty20—as well as ensuring it is more likely Rohit, MI's best player, will face more balls. 

Anderson and Rayudu could then bat interchangeably at No. 4 depending on the situation. With Pollard at No. 5 and the forsaken half of Anderson and Rayudu at No. 6. 

This strategy is similar to what the Indians adopted against CSK, if perhaps a little more secure. 

Ultimately, though, their success really hinges on the form of Pollard, who as that explosive unit at No. 5 or No. 6, really needs to come off if Mumbai are to elevate poor scores into par scores before allowing their strong bowling attack to defend it. Pollard has been out of cricket for some time with an injury, and although he scored a first-class hundred in Caribbean domestic cricket before the IPL he still appears to be rusty. 

Perhaps the best thing that could happen is that he finds himself in the middle early enough to build an innings—something he did admittedly have the opportunity to do against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

If he can find some form, then the quality of Rohit, Rayudu, Anderson and Tare should be enough to provide a platform for the West Indian titan to launch from. It is admittedly a lot of pressure to place on one man, but that is the nature of T20 cricket. 

This is a long season, but with three defeats from three in an unusually competitive league, spirits and hopes could be broken early. Time is already running out for Pollard and Mumbai.