Make or break for UP

Hosts need points from Mumbai fixture to keep hopes of qualifying for knock-outs alive

Having arrived in Lucknow for their penultimate group fixture,Mumbai led by skipper Wasim Jaffer were forced to skip their pre-match net session. With a damp practice wicket,their plans of last minute adjustments had to be shelved,and the second placed Group A side had to be content with some fielding drills.

Although they did launch an official complaint (more because the home side,Uttar Pradesh,were given a perfectly dry track to practice on) the Mumbai side really didnt have to,considering the depth their make-do batting line-up has shown this season.

Without regulars Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane both part of the India squad that beat the West Indies Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek Nayar have more than just made their chances count. With 1156 runs between them this season,first-timer Yadav and comeback man Nayar have all but ensured that Mumbai havent missed the many big players missing from the ranks.

With four hundreds between the duo (including one double century each),Mumbai have notched 17 points this season three behind leaders Karnataka. And just when the business end of the season approached,Jaffer too hit himself back into the reckoning with a match-saving 111 against Saurashtra in the previous game all but ensuring his side will qualify for the knock-outs. The same,however,cannot be said about the hosts.

On the back of an innings defeat to Railways in the previous game at Ghaziabad,it will be fair to say that all is not well in the Uttar Pradesh camp. Even their vaunted bowling department has not clicked in unison to take 20 wickets in a match to set the team for even a single victory this season. While Praveen Kumars injury was a major blow,RP Singh,Sudeep Tyagi,Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Piyush Chawla all big names in the domestic front havent been able to share the burden on their combined shoulders.

So facing the formidable batting line-up of the Mumbai side will be an uphill task to say the very least. And unlike Mumbai,UP desperately need at least three points from this game to keep their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals a reality.

With only two more games left to play including this one time is running out on hosts,who have now slid below Saurashtra and are fourth on the table with 12 points after five games. The bowlers need to lead the charge this time around. We need them to get the wickets quickly if we are to stay in the contest, says Gyanendra Pandey,coach of the UP side.

Story continues below this ad

Against Railways,they werent able to do that. The RP-led attack were made to look pedestrian at the hands of Railways openers Shivakant Shukla and Nitin Bille,as Pandeys side crashed to their worst defeat of the season. Mumbai has a stronger batting unit. Even dismissing them cheaply doesnt guarantee us points as they are known to hit back in second innings, says Pandey,putting the contest in perspective.

RP has a solitary five-wicket haul in his tally of 11 so far,averaging 45.45 per dismissal. He started with figures of 5/76 against Punjab in Mohali and has been struggling ever since. While the presence of Suresh Raina in the dressing room will be a help,it is the form of their bowlers that will end up determining whether the team advances to the quarter-finals or not.