Indian Premier League - IPL / Tobias Gourlay / 05 April 2012 /

Mumbai are in action again. This time it's the Maharashtra derby with Pune and Tobias Gourlay expects them to make it two wins out of two in IPL5

Mumbai

Harbhajan Singh's Indians dethroned the Chennai Super Kings in Chennai a couple of days ago. The performance - at the crease and in the field - matched the result and there are few reasons to change much for this game.

Sachin Tendulkar retired hurt but could well be fit to play on Friday.

Pune

Sourav Ganguly is back. The Prince of Calcutta is now the captain of Pune. In the absence of a head coach, he is also the 'team mentor'.

The Warriors are further depleted for this game. Graeme Smith misses IPL5 through injury, Yuvraj Singh is recuperating after chemotherapy, and Angelo Mathews and Michael Clarke are busy playing Test cricket. Overseas hitters such as Luke Wright, Jesse Ryder, Marlon Samuels and Tamim Iqbal will be expected to fill in.

Venue & conditions

The ground that once saw Ravi Shastri thrash six sixes in an over offers help to batsmen and bowlers alike in this form of the game. Refurbished for the World Cup at the beginning of last year, the Indians won 4/7 at the Wankhede in IPL4. In total, four of the seven matches were won by the team batting first.

Match Odds

Mumbai are [1.48] favourites. There are good reasons for this. Pune finished second last in IPL4. A lot of money has been spent on the squad in the off-season, but it will not be their first XI taking the field on Friday. A price of [3.0] offers Pune backers plenty of room to trade, however.

Mumbai Top Batsman

Richard Levi, scorer in February of the fastest century in international Twenty20 history, made a more pedestrian 35-ball 50 on Wednesday. James Franklin made half as many at the pace of a very elderly pedestrian and no one else topped 20.

If Tendulkar is ruled out, Ambati Rayudu might be promoted. He scored four fifties in 16 IPL innings last year - only Chris Gayle and S Badrinath hit more - and Harbhajan certainly believes in him, calling him a "special talent".

Pune Top Batsman

Ganguly could be one of the openers, but has a modest Twenty20 career record and didn't make more than 38 in any of the six innings he has recently played for Bengal by way of a warm-up for this tournament.

Robin Uthappa didn't reach fifty once in 13 innings last year, which leaves the market open to those overseas hitters. Without knowing the batting order, it's hard to single any of them out.

Mumbai v Pune - Opening Partnership

Pune's opening batsmen might not have played together before. The Warriors could take a risk on a big hitter, even though the peerless Lasith Malinga will open the bowling for the Indians.

Whether it's Tendulkar or Rayudu, Mumbai will have a solid accumulator at the top of the order and look good-value favourites to score more runs before the loss of their first wicket.

Best bet: Back Mumbai @ [1.75] in Mumbai v Pune - Opening Partnership
Other recommended bet: Back Ambati Rayudu in Mumbai Top Batsman

*Follow Tobias on Twitter: @tobiasgourlay

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: