CLT20: Preview of Mumbai v Lions at Wanderers

The first match of the Champions League T20 will be played on September 10, 2010 and will see Mumbai Indians take on the Lions from South Africa. The match will be played at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, that will be the home ground for the Lions.>

Mumbai will be led by the Sachin Tendulkar, who was the one man instrumental in guiding the Mumbai Indians to the final of the IPL and hence, into the CLT20. However, he will be mindful of the fact that the South African tracks will be a difficult proposition – a far cry from those back at home and will need to adjust quickly to them to have any chance in the tournament.>

Mumbai’s batting will hold the key and how they perform will go a long way in deciding whether they can get into the knock-out stage. For one, apart from Tendulkar, not too many of Saurabh Tiwary, Ambati Rayadu, Kieron Pollard or Dwayne Bravo would like the extra bounce on these tracks and will make life difficult for the side.

The good news though, is that the Mumbai Indians possess a bowling line-up, which is nothing short of the best in the tournament. Zaheer Khan will lead the attack along with the likes of Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh. There will be Bravo and Pollard, who can always bowl their overs, to go with one extra bowler that the side may opt for – Ryan McLaren – and this is because he is a local.

For the Lions, this will be a huge experience, as they would be playing against a side full of internationals. What the side needs to guard against is that they don’t get too awed by the experience and lose track of the game itself. Alviro Petersen is the captain of the side, and they have some experienced heads in the form of Zander de Bruyn and Neil McKenzie, but one gets the sense that their batting is also a bit of a worry.

Mumbai should go into the game as favourites, but in a 20-over game, it doesn’t take too much for things to change around.

You can watch the Mumbai-Lions match at Wanderers, Johannesburg live on Star Cricket if you are from India.