We are confident on regaining momentum: Geoff Marsh

Struggling Pune Warriors coach Geoff Marsh on Sunday exuded confidence of regaining momentum when his team takes on an equally reeling Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Monday.

"We have sorted out a couple of areas of concern, where we let ourselves down in two earlier matches. But we are taking the match positively and are confident on regaining our momentum," Marsh said on the eve of his team's match on Monday.

"We had a great start to the championship, winning the first two matches. We lost the third, which we could have won and against Mumbai, we had them on the mat at 16 for three before we let them run away with the match. You can't afford to do that against a team like Mumbai," he said.

The Warriors have played four matches and won two and the coach was relieved to have Manish Pandey in the ranks for tomorrow's tie against defending champions Chennai, who are languishing at the eighth place in the point table.

"It's good news that he will be ready for the next match. He is a good T20 player and a good fielder. We will decide about his inclusion in the evening," he said.

Marsh said all the IPL teams are equally balanced and that was the reason for so many close matches.

"All teams are even, and that's the reason why we are seeing a lot of close matches. All franchisees have done a lot of homework before picking their players and hence they have players of all sorts - bowlers, batsmen and all-rounders - in the team," he said.

"All sides have depth, and players who have the ability to change matches. So you can't expect a team to win every game, though that's what every team is trying to. All you can do is to try and execute the plans."

Talking about the pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for tomorrow's tie, Marsh said, "It's hard to predict a good total. All you can do is to go by the book of averages.

"The Kotla wicket hasn't been great for batting in the last couple of years. But the surface for yesterday's match was fantastic. So it's up to the first ball of match, and then we will plan accordingly.

"It will be about a lot of things, how well we bat and how well they ball, how well both teams field, and not just the pitch that determines a game," he said.

Asked about his son Shaun Marsh's blitering 95 against Delhi Daredevils yesterday, Geoff said, "Like every father, I'm happy for his form. We had him cheaply in our last match against them. We will be happy to get him early next time as well."