Mumbai Indians v Yorkshire live Champions League T20 2012

Two matches are scheduled to be played in Group B of Champions League on Thursday. The second match features defending champions Mumbai Indians pitching against Yorkshire in Cape Town.

Both the teams had embarrassing defeats in their respective first match.

Mumbai Indians won the Champions League last year after a spirited show of solid performances.

Things were remarkably different though when they played their first match this season on Sunday as Highveld Lions got the better of them.

Despite 157 on the board, the Mumbai side was unable to stem the flow of runs as Lions reached the target in the penultimate over.

Harbhajan Singh, the captain, knows that another defeat will severely hamper their chances of going through to the knock out round and hence vowed to put up a better show on Thursday.

The batsmen contributed collectively with Mitchell Johnson being the surprise top scorer. It was the bowling that let them down though as spinners found it difficult to grip the ball with the dew factor.

Harbhajan went for 36 from his four overs while Pragyan Ojha was ineffective in his two overs.

On the other hand, Yorkshire suffered a mauling in their first appearance in the main round. After the highs of the qualification round victories, the English side were given a tough beating as their batsmen failed to face the Sydney Sixers’ pacers.

With only three batsmen reaching double figures, it is alarming for the team and needs to make desperate improvements in order to keep their hopes alive.

Phil Jaques will be the key at the top of the order while the bowlers also need to support the batsmen’s effort. In the last match, even the bowlers had a horrid time as a target of 97 was conceded in under nine overs.

The match will start at 5.30pm local time.