Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians will look to seal a straight berth to the final of IPL 2013 when the two top sides face off in Qualifier 1 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Tuesday.
Both CSK and Mumbai Indians were brilliant in the league phase and deservedly finished in the top two places. CSK coach Stephen Fleming, who has seen his side dominate the IPL since its inception, believes the game against the Mumbai Indians will be a great one for the spectators.
"It's a big game, isn't it? And certainly, Chennai-Mumbai makes the mouth water," Fleming said. "We came close last year taking the long way. Sometimes it can help if you continually play because you get to good form. We just came up short against a great performance by Kolkata (Knight Riders).
"But certainly the advantage of playing well on Tuesday and having two or three days off at this point of the tournament is very appealing, rather than travel and play which can tax the players. So, we would love to win on Tuesday and book our place in the final and then work out a good programme."
Mumbai Indians have the psychological upperhand having beaten CSK on both occasions in the league phase, but Fleming believes his side have the players who always step up on the big stage.
"They've beaten us twice this year," Fleming said. "They are a team that has beaten us probably more than anyone else. Obviously we got thumped in the last match. So we didn't just lose, we got absolutely thumped.
"And that's down to a good performance by MI. You look at CSK and when we've played away in the finals, we've started our way through qualifying games and once we get to the finals we've been excellent. So, there's a lot of focus on stepping up that performance.
"Some of the players we have in our side are big-match players. Our skipper, MS Dhoni, is probably number one in the world, in terms of producing performances when they matter. We turn to those types of players in these situations, whether it's the Rainas or Dhonis or the overseas players.
"The group of guys that I have got are focused on playing the best that we can play. And, as I say, hopefully it's two games away -- beat Mumbai and then have another final. And really we are trying to let nothing else creep into the dressing room."
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