Mumbai Indians will look to strengthen their hold on the playoff places with a win over bottom club Pune Warriors in their IPL 2013 game.
The Maharashtra Derby will not have too much in stake for Pune Warriors, who have been long out of the running for the playoffs, having posted just two in 11 games in IPL 2013.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, are on a good run, having thrashed the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their previous game, and will look to pick up their ninth win in 13 games, to go above the Rajasthan Royals into second place.
"We are three-quarters of the way through the tournament," Mumbai Indians coach John Wright said. "There is still a lot of cricket to play. We have got four matches in a short period of time. And for us, we got a good last week. We have just got to carry that through away from home to play well here. And let us see what happens."
Wright, though, insisted the Mumbai Indians would not be taking the Pune Warriors lightly, despite their poor run in the IPL.
"Well, I don't think there are any easy teams in this competition and some of our games proved that," he added. "We know that if you want to do well through the length of this tournament, you have got to play well. We want to get two points out of this game.
"We want to play well in these conditions. That will help us. I think it is important to respect every team you play against in this competition. If you don't, it can lead to big trouble. So, let us see, if we start well, either with the bat or ball that will help us."
Sachin Tendulkar played a nice little innings against KKR in the last game, and Wright hopes for more of the same against Pune.
"Well, I think he is past that problematic age of 39, Wright said with a laugh. "Life begins at 40. We were really please with the way he played in the last game -- not necessarily the runs he got, but the way he played was good for us. And I think that will be really helpful on slow-wicket conditions."
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