The Mumbai Indians desperately need a win to advance to the next round of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket competition.
The Indians are set to play the Northern Knights on Tuesday in Raipur at 8:00pm IST (6:30pm GST, 2:30pm GMT)
The match will be broadcast on Star Sports in India and Star Cricket in Sri Lanka and the rest of South East Asia.
It will also be broadcast on Astro in Malaysia, Gazi TV in Bangladesh, PTV in Pakistan, Supersport in Africa, Eurosport in the United Kingdom and Europe, ESPN in the United States and South America, Sportsnet in Canada, OSN in the Middle East, and SKY TV in New Zealand.
Live streaming will be available through most broadcasters.
The Indians are 1-1, as are the Lahore Lions. The Knights are 2-0, and with a win will seal their advancement to the next round of the competition.
However, if the Indians win they would be tied with the Knights at 2-1. The Lions could reach that record as well if they beat the Lahore Lions, which are currently 0-2.
Another scenario has the Indians losing and the Lions losing, which would leave all three teams at 1-2 with the tie breaker at net run-rate.
Only two of the four teams in the qualifying can advance to the next round, which starts on Wednesday.
The Indians started off the tournament with a 6-wicket loss to the Lions but came back to beat the Express by 9 wickets.
The Knights beat the Express by 7 wickets then the Lions by 72 runs, virtually assuring a berth in the next round.
“Trent Boult and Tim Southee were unplayable in the previous match and there will be expectations for them to dent the solid Mumbai Indians batting line-up early,” notes the official CLT20 website in its preview.
“In Scott Styris and Ish Sodhi, the Northern Knights have bowlers who can make use of the sluggish surface. There is plenty of talent on the batting front too; Kane Williamson, skipper Daniel Flynn, Daniel Harris and wicket-keeper BJ Watling are the four players who will be expected to score big.”
The Indians will be looking to fully shake off the rust displayed in their opening match.
“Despite the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, MI have plenty of ammunition in their ranks to be considered a force. After the convincing win on Sunday, MI will be aware of the raised expectations; not only will a win in this match act as a confidence booster, especially coming against the table-toppers, but it will most-likely ensure a passage to the tournament proper,” the preview said.
“Just like they did in the previous match against Southern Express on Sunday, Mumbai Indians fans will look up to Michael Hussey and Lendl Simmons to lay the foundation for the stroke-makers in the middle. Kieron Pollard has the reputation of being one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket today. On the bowling front, the eight overs of Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh, and how many the Northern Knights batsmen realize from them, could have a telling influence on the outcome of the match.”
See squads below.
Indians
Kieron Pollard (C), Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Pragyan Ojha, Aditya Tare (W), Jalaj Saxena, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, Michael Hussey, Corey Anderson, Lasith Malinga, Marchant de Lange, Lendl Simmons, Sushant Marathe, Pawan Suyal
Knights
Daniel Flynn (C), Ish Sodhi, Jono Boult, Brad Wilson, Kane Williamson, BJ Watling (W), Graeme Aldridge, Anton Devcich, Tim Southee, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Daniel Harris, Scott Styris, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner
