Lendl Simmons Wants To Make Himself Count For Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League

In a short span of two games, Mumbai Indians' Lendl Simmons has made an impression and the opening batsman says he wants to hit a fifty in every outing to enhance his team's chances of reaching the IPL play-offs. Simmons (68) along with Ambati Rayudu (68) put on 130 runs for the second wicket as Mumbai chased down a 158-run target comfortably against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Monday.

"As a team, we would want to win all the games and qualify for the playoffs. I want to do my part for the team by giving a good start and scoring with a good strike-rate. I want to score a half-century in every game and get my team off to a flier at the top of the innings," said Simmons. (Match Report | Scorecard | Highlights)

Mumbai are struggling at sixth position in the points table in the eight-team tournament with just three wins from nine matches, and they now need to win their remaining matches to qualify for the play-offs.

Simmons said his plan was to launch an all-out attack from the word go in the upcoming matches. "I am the aggressor and I like to take the attack to the bowlers. That is how I see my role. In the games to come, I will try and make sure I attack right from the beginning," he said. (Clinical Performance by Mumbai: Rohit Sharma)

Simmons, who plays at different positions for the West Indies, said he was enjoying his role as an opening batsman for Mumbai Indians.

"I have batted in a number of positions for the West Indies, and at the moment, I am batting at No.3 for my national side. Having said that, I enjoy opening the batting and take it is as a nice challenge. I have opened with CM Gautam in the two games I have played so far and it is good to have a classy batsman on the other side," he said