Thomas dismisses MI advantage in Champions League semfinal

Chennai: Somerset captain Alfonso Thomas believes it would be a "challenge" to take on Mumbai Indians in the Champions League T20 semifinal on Saturday but said his team has enough spin options to tackle their rivals in the slow wicket at MA Chidambaram Stadium.

"It`s going to be a bit of a challenge. But during qualification, we played Auckland straight after coming from England (and won)," Thomas said at a press conference here. Somerset played all their group and qualification matches in Bangalore and Hyderbad, while Mumbai played two of their group matches here. Regarding the Chennai wicket, Thomas said, "It looks a bit slow. We have some good spin options who could hopefully deliver the goods against MI.” "But at the end of the day, it`s 11 and 11 and the best team would win on the day," Thomas said. Thomas also exuded confidence that his relatively inexperienced top order, which provided the bulk of runs for the side this tournament, would be unperturbed against the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga. "I don`t think any different from facing Brett Lee (when they played KKR) or Dirk Nannes (when they played RCB). As long as you keep your eye on the ball, play the ball and not the man, you should be ok," said Thomas, one of Somerset`s leading wicketakers in the tournament with seven wickets. Thomas also denied that his team had faced difficulties when they had to play some inexperienced players during qualification in place of some England stars, who were away on international duty. "It was more of a challenge (than a difficulty)," he said. Having played in subcontinental conditions now, his younger players were the better for the experience now, he added. PTI