IPL 2018

Wounded Mumbai Indians aim to breach Sunrisers Hyderabad's fortress

by Kritika Naidu • Last updated on

SRH won six of their seven games in Hyderabad in the last edition and got off the mark in IPL 2018 with a clinical win over RR. © BCCI

Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians had contrasting starts to their IPL 2018 campaigns this year. While SRH cruised to a nine-wicket victory in Hyderabad over Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings pulled off a grand heist to hand Mumbai a heart-breaking one-wicket loss.

Clinical were the Sunrisers against the Royals having all their boxes ticked. Their ground fielding was exceptional with them having saved at least 10-15 runs. Their five main bowlers came together in an effective amalgam to help restrict Rajasthan to a sub-par 125 on a wicket that at least had 150-160 in it. On a wicket that was assisting seamers, it was SRH's fifth bowler, Siddharth Kaul, who led the way with figures of 2 for 17, before Shikhar Dhawan blazed through to an unbeaten half-century to take them over the line with skipper Kane Williamson for company.

Mumbai, on the other hand, didn't have an ideal start with their openers struggling to get a move on. Both openers Rohit Sharma and Evin Lewis struggled, but their middle order in Ishan Kishan (40) and Suryakumar Yadav (43) stood up. But it was Krunal Pandya's 22-ball 41 that really propelled them to 165 that brought them back into the game. Mumbai were even ahead in the contest reducing CSK to 118 for 8 at one stage with debutant Mayank Markande picking up three wickets, along with Hardik Pandya, to put the hosts in the driver's seat.

Dwayne Bravo's onslaught thereafter of a 30-ball 68 with him belting sixes for fun couldn't be stopped even by arguably two of the best death bowlers in the world - Mustafizur Rahman and Jasprit Bumrah. It wasn't an ideal start for Mumbai, but they did have positives, starting with Markande, which fills in the void for the lack of an Indian spinner in their ranks, which was stark coming into the season. His coming good bodes well for the Mumbai side. Their young middle order proving their prowess after their big names failed at the top shows their ability to take on responsibility.

Mumbai got in two training sessions leading into the clash, one in the afternoon and one under lights. Sunrisers' batsmen spent some time in the nets, while the bowlers were involved in gruelling fielding and catching drills through the evening on the eve of the match.

Sunrisers had a near-perfect start, but the key will be in sustaining the momentum under Williamson, who was as enthused as you'd ever find him. Right from a fantastic run-out to a great catch to an unbeaten knock, the SRH skipper had it all against the Royals. Against Mumbai though, it'll be a different challenge given the depth and skill in their pace department. Rajasthan's bowlers lacked the zip on the day to trouble SRH's batsmen after Dhawan was dropped. But in Mumbai's case, they will have four quality pacemen running in, with the luxury of having Kieron Pollard chipping in, on a wicket that will hold them in good stead. SRH will be confident, but rest assured, will face stiff competition from a strong outfit.

When: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians, April 12, 20:00 IST

Where: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

What to expect: A hot day with temperatures rising to 36 degrees in the day. An evening game will mean respite from that heat, but a hot day nevertheless with rain expected to stay away.

Head to head:

SRH 5 - 5 MI - Both teams stack equally when it comes to head-to-head stats so far in the competition, but it is at Hyderabad that the hosts lead Mumbai 3-2.

Team News:

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Hyderabad have no reason to tweak their line-up, but coach Tom Moody conceded that they were considering a couple of options. Hales was being fed balls on one of the training wickets from coach Moody where he had to adapt and adjust in order to clear the ropes, which he did consistently. Moody also stressed on their faith in Saha at the top of the order, which means Saha will continue to open alongside Shikhar with Hales coming in lower down the order if given the chance. Carlos Brathwaite and Mohammad Nabi too were in the middle facing deliveries from Moody. If one of them is drafted in, it would be for Billy Stanlake.

Probable XI: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib al Hasan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Billy Stanlake, Siddarth Kaul.

Mumbai Indians: After having sat out of Mumbai's opening encounter against CSK, Pat Cummins was ruled out of the IPL with a back injury. Mumbai will persist with their four pacemen on the Hyderabad wicket which will assist seamers. Hardik Pandya was a notable absentee from both of Mumbai's training sessions ahead of the clash after the ankle injury he picked up against Chennai. If he is forced to sit out, Saurabh Tiwary may be drafted in.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya/Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mayank Markande, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mustafizur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah.

Interesting face-offs

Rohit Sharma has scored 429 runs from 13 innings at this venue in IPL games at a strike rate of 144.44. He has scored 52 runs off 42 balls from Shakib al Hasan without getting dismissed (since 2013) while Sandeep Sharma has got him out twice in 19 balls.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has dismissed Pollard thrice in 12 balls in IPL games since 2013.

Since IPL 2015, Bumrah (26) and McClenaghan (25) have conceded second and third most sixes in the last five overs in IPL.

Approaching milestones:

Shakib needs four more wickets to become the first left-arm bowler and fifth bowler overall to take 300 wickets in T20 cricket.

What they said:

"It looks good. I thought the wicket in the first game was excellent, it had good pace and carry, and there's plenty of runs to be had. So I'd imagine tomorrow's wicket is going to be pretty much the same. It's a good contest between bat and ball when it's like that." - Tom Moody, head coach of SRH.

© Cricbuzz

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