Stunned by two back-to-back defeats, Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians will be desperate to find their winning ways when they take on a low-profile Guyana in a Champions League Group B match here on Thursday.
The IPL runner-up side had a forgettable start in the show-piece event as they first went down to Lions by just nine runs in the tournament-opener and then fell prey to South Australia, who comprehensively beat them by five wickets on Tuesday.
The two consecutive defeats has put the Mumbai team on the brink of an early elimination and it will now need an inspired effort from Tendulkar and his men to bounce back.
Their performance have only showed a downward graph and although Tendulkar tried his best to lead from the front, he is yet to instill the confidence among his teammates.
After a breezy 62-ball 69 in the first match, Tendulkar failed to deliver yesterday while the so-called strong batting order of Mumbai failed to provide much resistance against the South Australia attack.
lthough Guyana bowling department does not have any big names, Mumbai batting order, including South African J P Duminy and hard-hitting West Indian Kieron Pollard, have to show more consistency tomorrow and in their coming encounters as well.
Young batsman Sourav Tiwary cracked a brilliant 44 off 36 balls on Tuesday and the team would expect another good knock from the talented Jharkhand guy on Thursday.
In bowling department Mumbai's new-ball pair of Zaheer Khan and Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga have to live upto expectation.
Zaheer scalped one wicket in the last match but was too expensive, while his India teammate and seasoned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also proved quite ineffective against South Australia.
Guyana have also lost their campaign-opener to another IPL side Royal Challenger Bangalore by nine wickets and will find Mumbai Indians a tough nut to crack.
Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan is the only big name in their batting line-up which somehow managed to cross 100-run mark against RCB's mighty bowling attack.
But Mumbai is unlikely to take the West Indian side lightly because the players like Christopher Barnwell, who helped Guyana to cross 100-run mark with a 54-ball 30, and Sewnarine Chattergoon are capable of changing the equation of any match just in a few overs.
But support from the lower-middle order including Esuan Crandon, Jonathan Foo and Derwin Christian will also play crucial role.
http://www.indianexpress.com
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