Desperate Mumbai in must-win situation

Durban: Stunned by two back-to-back defeats, the 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 at Durban on Thursday.

Having lost the first two games against the Lions and the Redbacks respectively owing to poor strategy and some sloppy fielding, the game against Guyana becomes a must-win encounter for the Mumbai side. Along with Guyana who got a thrashing of their life at the hands of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first match, Mumbai currently make the bottom of the group B and both sides would be eyeing their first win of the tournament.

What would have hurt Mumbai is that they looked in a commanding position almost right through the game against the Redbacks, but poor bowling and awful fielding at the death led to their downfall. Both Zaheer Khan and Hrabhajan Singh have failed to impose themselves on the opposition and are struggling to get the rhythm right. Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga has been the impressive of the bowlers and Mumbai will be hoping that he continues his good work.

Though Mumbai lost once while chasing and once while defending, their batting looks more or less settled with scores of 176 and 180 in their two outings.

Although Sachin Tendulkar failed in the last match, he looked pretty solid in his innings of 20 runs after a breezy 62-ball 69 in the first game. Young batsman Saurabh Tiwary and Kireon Pollard played a swashbuckling innings of 44 and 36 respectively against the Redbacks and team will hope that the duo continue their impressive form against Guyana.

Guyana, who lost their campaign-opener to Bangalore by nine wickets, 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 the 100-run mark against RCB's mighty bowling attack.

But Mumbai will surely not take Guyana for granted because the players like Christopher Barnwell and Sewnarine Chattergoon are capable of changing the equation in a matter of few overs with their smart batting.