We have just completed 8 games this IPL season and I think we have seen quite a lot. High-scoring thrillers, low-scoring thrillers, easy victories, batting collapses everything. We are in for another cracker of a game as the Mumbai Indians take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 17th (Saturday). This game is a tale of the two best bowling lineups of the tournament. We have to wait and watch as to which bowling lineup does better.
Mumbai Indians will certainly breathe a sigh of relief as they were able to secure a revitalizing win in their last game against the Kolkata Knight Riders. They pulled things back out of nowhere and emerged victoriously. Credit has to be given to Rohit Sharma as well as his bowlers who bowled such tight lines and did not allow the batsman a chance to hit. At one stage KKR needed 31 to win from 30 deliveries but Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Krunal Pandya ensured that Mumbai had it in the bag.
Sunrisers Hyderabad on the other hand has now lost two on the trot and looks a bit shook. They were on the receiving end in the last game as they suffered a Kolkata Knight Riders-Esque collapse. They were cruising at one stage in the game when David Warner and Manish Pandey were batting. SRH lost Warner and they seemed to have lost the plot. They were unable to pull things back and eventually ended up losing to the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 runs.
Mumbai Indians keen to continue their winning juggernaut
Mumbai Indians will be happy with the way their top order has been batting. Surya Kumar Yadav is in the form of his life and is scoring runs consistently. Rohit Sharma also looked in great touch. The main cause of concern for them will be the death overs. They have not been able to capitalize during overs 16-20. Their two big hitters Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard just haven’t been able to get going. Mumbai tends to lose a lot of wickets during this period and is simply unable to score. They will want to improve on this and will hope that their big hitters can find some form.
Talking about the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting, they seem extremely reliant on their top order. If they lose their skipper, David Warner, and Jonny Bairstow, they just seem lost. Sunrisers Hyderabad will want to make amends to their middle order and Kane Williamson’s inclusion will not be a surprise if he has recovered well from his injury and is fit. He adds stability to their otherwise frail middle order. Sunrisers will also want Manish Pandey to improve his strike rate. Manish Pandey has been criticized for the innings he has played in the last two games. He will certainly want to put those behind him and just go out there and express himself freely.
Mumbai Indians bowled phenomenally in the previous game. They showed everyone why they are the defending champions. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult just didn’t let Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell get going. While Krunal Pandya bowled with such an attacking field that it kept the pressure on the batsman. Rahul Chahar made the most out of it picking up 4 wickets and wreaked havoc in the KKR camp. Rohit Sharma will want his bowlers to continue this as they aim to secure their 2nd win of the season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will be happy with their bowling performance as well. They bowled tight lines made use of the conditions superbly and restricted RCB down to 149. Their standout bowler was again the genius Rashid Khan who ended with figures 4-0-18-2. This time he was joined by the West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder who picked up three wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was brilliant as always. Sunrisers Hyderabad will also want their bowlers to keep up the good form as the team needs to excel to return to winning ways.
Head to Head: Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Total matches played: 16
MI won: 8
SRH won: 8
Interestingly, Sunrisers Hyderabad is one of the few teams that have a decent head-to-head record against Mumbai. Both teams have not let the other get ahead of them. It might turn out to be another mouth-watering thriller.
Weather and Pitch Report
The weather in Chennai is expected to be clear for a smooth game of cricket. The temperature is expected to be around 30 degrees with 67% humidity. The MA Chidambaram Stadium’s track has played out as a balanced surface in this competition. It has got purchase for both batsmen and bowlers, and toss won’t have as big an impact here as it will in the Wankhede Stadium. The matches that have been played here this year have shown that batting first has a better record.
Team News
Mumbai Indians: They have no injuries and will continue with the same 11.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: SRH has no particular injuries and might field the same 11. Kane Williamson’s fitness will be a concern for them and his inclusion is still subject to him being match fit. Abhishek Sharma might get a chance as well.
Squads
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Adam Milne, Chris Lynn, Jayant Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Quinton de Kock, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Arjun Tendulkar, Marco Jansen, Yudhvir Singh.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Jason Roy.
