Bombay: With their play-off chances hanging by a thread, Sunrisers Hyderabad will have to break their five-game loss streak when they face an already eliminated Mumbai Indians in the IPL here tuesday.
It was a roller coaster ride for SRH, who won five games in a row before losing the next five.
SRH, if they win their two remaining games, including the one against MI, will jump to 14 points and then lag in the hopes that the other results will make their way to have a chance to make the playoffs.
But a loss to Mumbai at Wankhede stadium will definitely eliminate them as there are already seven teams with 12 or more points.
Hyderabad will have to put on a much better show with the bat. Skipper Williamson is on a miserable run this season and the Kiwi has amassed just 208 runs from 12 games at an average of 18.92. He has to find his mojo.
Head coach Tom Moody defended the move to open with an out of form Williamson and the New Zealander will have to prove his coach right.
His opening partner Abhishek Sharma, who came in with 43 in the last game, has to convert the starts into big scores. But the duo are said to have cut their task against a formidable attack in Mumbai on a track helping pacers.
SRH has the necessary firepower in the middle class with the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram and reckless Nicholos Pooran, but consistency was an issue.
Their middle class crumbled in their last game against Kolkata Knight Riders, which they lost by 54 runs, so the three had to fire at once.
Equally crucial is the role of Washington Sundar and Shashank Singh as finishers.
Sunrisers’ formidable speed attack includes Umran Malik, who has been a revelation, while others such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, who can harass Rohit with the delivery coming in, and Yorker specialist T Natarajan have done well.
MI’s batters will have to be on the lookout for Malik, who gets better with each game and already has 18 wickets.
MI will draw confidence from their five-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kingswhich they bundled for 97 and probably looking at the odds of SRH.
But for Mumbai, the form of skipper Rohit Sharma and IPL’s most expensive acquisition Ishan Kishan are of major concern. The duo must ensure an aggressive start, especially in the absence of Suryakumar Yadav.
Tilak Varma, one of the finds of the season, must once again take responsibility in the middle class, which lacks experience. And it wouldn’t be easy for the likes of Daniel Sams, Tim David, Tristan Stubbs and Ramandeep Singh to fend off the varied SRH attack.
As for the MI bowling, pacesetter Sams is right on the money and can deal major damage at the start. The ever-reliable Jasprit Bumrah and Riley Meredith have also played their part, while rookie spinner Kumar Kartikeya Singh made some breakthroughs in the midfield.
Teams (out): Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Arjun Tendulkar, Basil Thampi, Hrithik Shokeen, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Riley Meredith, Tymal Mills, Arshad Khan, Daniel Sams, Dewald Brevis, Fabian Allen, Kieron Pollard, Sanjay Yadav, Aryan Juyal and Ishan Kishan.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholos Pooran, Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Phillips, R Samarth, Shashank Singh, Washington Sundar, Romario Shepherd, Marco Jansen, J Suchith, Shreyas Gopal , Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sean Abbott, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Tiwary, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.
Match at 7.30 pm
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