Mumbai, Apr 10: Hosts Mumbai Indians need to address their batting concerns as they take on table toppers Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket match at the Wankhede Stadium, here tomorrow.
Mumbai have struggled in chasing small totals in their last two matches and had Rohit Sharma not played a heroic 50-ball 73, they could have lost last night's match against Deccan Chargers.
The Harbhajan Singh-led side, without the calming influence of the injured Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the order, once again seemed to be floundering while chasing a none-too-difficult target of 139 before the under-performing Rohit did the last-over magic when the side needed 18 runs.
Rohit's whirlwind unbeaten knock and good support from West Indian Kieron Pollard saved the day for MI after their bowlers had done a commendable job in restricting their rivals to a manageable total.
The bowlers, led from the front by Harbhajan Singh, have delivered in all three matches they have played and it's time for the openers to give the side a good start in the absence of Tendulkar whose finger injury is yet to heal completely.
The senior batsman is uncertain to play tomorrow's game and in his absence MI have tried out Hyderabad-born Ambati Rayudu and T Suman as partners to South African Richard Levi without much success.
Levi, who cracked a half-century and won the MoM award in the opener against CSK, too has flopped in the last two games and Mumbai would be anxious to get the opening combination right for the game against the Royals.
The bowlers have delivered in brilliant style for Mumbai with Munaf Patel in particularly good form in the last two games he has played - grabbing 2 for 26 against Pune Warriors and then a stunning 4 for 20 against Deccan Chargers.
Lasith Malinga has always been a threat for the rival batsmen and was well used by Harbhajan against Chargers.
