CLT20: Preview of Mumbai v SA at Durban

Mumbai Indians will play the South Australian Redbacks in the seventh match of the Champions League T20 on Tuesday at Kingsmead in Durban. The game will be night game and will start at 1530 hours GMT.

Mumbai Indians had lost the first match that they played to Lions, while South Australia beat the Lions in their first game. >

Mumbai would be rueing the manner in which they lost to a side which was much lesser fancied. There was a touch of complacency in their approach, and the captaincy left a lot to be desired as well, as the side capitulated while chasing a biggish target, after allowing the opposition to get there in the first place. >

The Mumbai Indians will need to look at their strategy more closely. They cannot afford to go in with five main bowlers, and then have nine bowlers bowling the 20 overs – they probably need to get Dwayne Bravo back. With Bravo, not only does he give you the added batting option, but he can bowl his one or two overs as well – something that Ryan McLaren had done in the previous game.

And the batsmen need to support Tendulkar. Expecting him to finish off the games all the time would be expecting too much, and this is where the role of JP Duminy and Kieron Pollard becomes very important.

The South Australians had begun well with their win over the Lions, but they will do well not to underestimate the opposition. They will also know that a win here would give them two wins out of two games, and with a game against the lowly Guyana in hand – making their path to the semi-final rather easy.

Given that the game is going to start at 5.30 pm and will be played under the lights at the Kingsmead, it will ensure that the sides will have a good chance with the ball. And with the presence of Shaun Tait in the South Australian line-up, things can only get better for the team from Australia.

It is a difficult call to make, but the team which bats well to start off with, will have a lot of advantage.