Flailing teams reach point of no return at Wankhede

In the NFL, they would call it a Spoon Bowl - a playful reference to a contest between two bottom-placed sides of the league. Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants are still some distance from that ignominy, but they may well be headed in that direction. Placed ninth and 10th on the points table, they might yet avoid the proverbial wooden spoon, but both, slowly and certainly, appear to be slipping out of contention for playoff berths.

If not Lucknow Super Giants, who still have a mathematical chance, Mumbai Indians, with two wins from nine games, could well be out of the race for a last-four spot. They can reach a maximum of 14 points, and traditionally teams with 16 points make it to the business end of the league. Time may have run out for the five-time champions. It is a travesty for a side that has four World Cup winners, one finalist and five more semifinalists in their ranks.

MI, however, refused to throw in the towel. "No, I think it's too early for me to say anything. I think we've still got five more games. I mean, anything can happen for us. We just need to finish the tournament positively and see what happens. There's still a lot more cricket to be played, and I don't think we are mathematically out of the tournament. So I'm going to fight, and I'm sure the rest of the boys will do the same," coach Mahela Jayawardene said after the defeat versus CSK on Saturday night.

Mumbai Indians' woes were compounded by the failure of key players, none more so than Suryakumar Yadav, who finished second last season but is currently 40th in the batting charts with 183 runs at a mediocre average of 20.33, scored at a strike rate of 144. He may deny it, but the time may have come for the India T20I skipper to accept that he is not just out of runs, but also out of form - his own words.

Jayawardene mounted a strong defence of Suryakumar. "I think he's definitely up for it. I think he's in a good space. It's just that it hasn't worked - the number of times he's got caught on the boundary this season. Some of those shots are his shots, like even in the last game or the one before that -the flick where he got caught. So it's just a matter of time. I think he himself is disappointed, but he just has to keep working harder."

Lucknow last played a game on April 26 and it has been a week since. Whether the break helps them reinvigorate remains to be seen but nothing seems to be going their way for the Rishabh Pant-led side. In a season of batters' domination, their two best batters of the season combined - Mitchell Marsh (212) and Aiden Markram (193) - have together not managed more runs than any of the top 3 in the Orange Cap list.

That sums up their season, in which their two costliest buys - Pant and Nicholas Pooran - who drained the exchequer by INR 48 crore, have returned averages of 27 and 10. LSG's batting line-up is in need of an overhaul, which is likely at next year's auction.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel. For us, we have no other option. Every game is a knockout from here. It's about how we perform and how we focus on the things," Bharat Arun, LSG's bowling coach, said on the eve of the game.

What to expect:The red-soil Wankhede Stadium pitch is likely to be better for batting than what Mumbai Indians encountered at MA Chidambaram Stadium, and the scores will, undeniably, be higher than those seen in Chennai on Saturday night. MI are likely to post a big total if they bat first, but whether LSG have the batting prowess to chase it remains to be seen.

Head to head: MI 2 - 6 LSG. LSG seem to be one of the few sides that has a better H2H record overall and even at the Wankhede, where the Lucknow side has won two of the three games.

Injuries/Unavailabilities: There is no clarity on Rohit Sharma, who does not appear to have fully recovered from his right hamstring injury suffered three weeks ago. With Jayawardene stating that he still harbours hopes of a playoff berth, Mumbai Indians are unlikely to treat the game as a lost cause and rest key players, particularly Jasprit Bumrah.

Tactics & Match-ups:Trent Boult is supposed to be Powerplay specialist but this season he is yet to dismiss a batter in this initial phase, in which he is going at ER of 13.62. But AM Ghazanfar, MI's leading wicket taker with 11 scalps, has five wickets in the Powerplay. Hardik Pandya may use the unrivalled Jasprit Bumrah, an all-phase bowler, and Ghazanfar in the Powerplay overs.

Tactics & Match-ups:LSG seamers have the best average, strike rate and economy rate in the Powerplay, and there is little doubt that Mohsin Khan and Prince Yadav, along with Mohammed Shami, will be the key to their attack, mainly in the first six overs. Yadav, LSG's leading wicket-taker this season with 13 scalps, has been effective across phases. With the bat, Josh Inglis has a favourable match-up against Bumrah, which should serve as a morale booster for a side languishing in 10th place.

I think it's not just Booms (Bumrah); it's a collective effort from all the bowlers. When everyone's working together and picking up wickets here and there, it helps Boom to be a bit more aggressive rather than doing a holding job. Like I said, everyone tends to have a slow season, but class is always permanent." - MI coach Mahela Jayawardene on Jasprit Bumrah and other players not hitting their best form yet

"I don't think the price tag has anything to do with it. If you really look at his batting throughout, in the second game that we played, he took us through the line, and I wouldn't be too concerned about his form. It's just a question of being one innings away from getting back to his normal." - LSG bowling coach Bharat Arun on Rishabh Pant's poor form in the season

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