06 May,2024 11:12 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
All is not lost as MI`s key India players for the upcoming T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya would remain in focus for their individual form (Pic: AFP)
A confident Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to produce a dominant show against a frail Mumbai Indians outfit and move up in the Indian Premier League points table when the two teams clash on Monday.
Placed fourth in the IPL points table with 12 points in 10 matches with six wins and four losses, SRH will be desperate to produce an all-round show and make improvements especially in their bowling department.
The Pat Cummins-led side is in the midst of an intense battle between multiple teams who are bidding for spots in the final four, with Rajasthan Royals (16 points), Kolkata Knight Riders (14 points) and Lucknow Super Giants (12 points) placed above SRH.
Chennai Super Kings (5th with 10 points) and a resurgent Delhi Capitals (6th with 10 points) are breathing down SRH's neck, a scenario that would force the 2016 winners to shrug off any rust and get ready for an intense mid-table battle.
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If a two-paced pitch at the Wankhede Stadium for the previous clash against KKR was an aberration, the free-flowing SRH batters would look to make merry and pile up a huge score as they have done several times this year.
The pitches here generally are batting-friendly and short boundary lengths at this venue make scores in excess of 200 a norm, but the MI-KKR contest played out on a sluggish surface last Friday challenged the batters to dig deep.
Also Read: Win or perish
SRH would be high on confidence having pipped the table-toppers RR by just one run in their previous outing, a game in which their bowlers pulled off a thrilling win.
Travis Head (396 runs), Abhishek Sharma (315) and Heinrich Klaasen (337) remain the enforcers in SRH's batting but South African Aiden Markram would be keen to make a big score of his own, having had a mixed run so far.
Nitish Kumar Reddy (219 runs) has emerged as one of the most promising players for SRH in last few games which takes a significant amount of pressure off the key batters.
T Natarajan's (15 wickets) accuracy would be handy for SRH as the left-arm pacer is chasing Mumbai Indians' Jasprit Bumrah (17) for the purple cap.
Five-time winners Mumbai slipped to the bottom of the pool again when Royal Challengers Bengaluru trumped Gujarat Titans on Saturday night.
With only three wins in 11 matches, MI's challenge is all but over and there is only "pride and name" left to play for by their own admission.
However, all is not lost as MI's key India players for the upcoming T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya would remain in focus for their individual form.
Rohit's all-out aggressive approach has not yielded many big scores whereas the world number 1 T20 batter Suryakumar would be eyeing consistency after a fine half-century against KKR a few nights ago.
India vice-captain Pandya has being consistently on the receiving end due to his ordinary form with both bat and ball and also his on-field decisions as MI skipper.
The all-rounder, however, would be keen to make amends and put an end to the criticism that he has been facing ever since this IPL edition got underway.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Harvik Desai (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav (wk), Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh, Mayank Agarwal.
Mumbai Indians win toss, opt to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Tim David, Anshul Kamboj, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Mayank Agarwal, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan
11: 12 PM: MI: 174/3 (17.2)
Suryakumar hits the winning runs and brings up his century in style! Mumbai Indians won the IPL 2024 match by seven wickets.
11: 02 PM: MI: 149/3 (16)
Suryakumar-Tilak completes 100 runs stand. Mumbai Indians need 26 runs in 4 overs.
10: 54 PM: MI: 128/3 (14)
Suryakumar completes his fifty and Tilak, on the other hand, keeps rotating the strike. Mumbai Indians reach 128 runs after the completion of 14 overs.
10: 42 PM: MI 105/3 (12)
Suryakumar and Tilak take complete control of the match. The hosts are now 105 runs for the loss of three wickets after 12 overs.
10: 32 PM: MI: 84/3 (10)
SRH bowlers have no answers against Suryakumar and Tilak. The duo takes Mumbai to 84 runs after 10 overs.
10: 20 PM: MI: 79/3 (8)
Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma backfire Hyderabad despite losing wickets in a quick session.
10: 10 PM: MI: 52/3 (6)
Mumbai Indians' batsmen struggle to score runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad's pace. Naman departs soon after Rohit Sharma's dismissal.
10: 00 PM: MI: 31/2 (4)
Captain Pat Cummins dismiss Rohit Sharma. Sunrisers Hyderabad are in total control of the match. Cummins bowl his first maiden over in the match.
9: 50 PM: MI: 27/1 (2)
Ishan Kishan departs after a fiery start. Naman Dhir joins Rohit Sharma in the run chase of 174 runs.
9:20 PM: 173/8 (20 overs)
A Pat Cummins-cameo of '17-ball 35 takes Hyderabad to a fighting total. SRH post 173 at the end of 20 overs.
9:07 PM: 153/8 (18.2 Overs)
Abdul Samad gets LBW off Chawla's bowling. Mumbai continue to be on top as Pat Cummins is joined by impact player Sanvir Singh. Bumrah and Thushara in the middle for MI.
8:58 PM: 122/6 (15.3 Overs)
Shahbaz Ahmed gets caught by Suryakumar Yadav off Pandya's delivery. MI on top of this contest as SRH go six down now. Abdul Samad comes into bat.
8:42 PM: 103/5 (13.2 Overs)
Heinrich Klaasen departs after getting cleaned up by Chawla. MI on a roll as SRH go five down now. Mumbai bring in most trusted pacer Jasprit Bumrah to seal the deal now.
8:35 PM: 92/4 (11.1 Overs)
Hosts Mumbai on fire after Head and new batter Nitish Reddy walk back to the pavilion in the same over. After Chawla, it is Pandya who provides a breakthrough.
8:28 PM: 82/2 (9 Overs)
23-year-old all-rounder Anshul Kamboj is the cynosure of all eyes today at the Wankhede. After nearly getting Head out of the equation, the Australian has another lucky escape after being dropped by Nuwan Thushara. Kamboj finally strikes, as he clean-bowls Mayank Agarwal.
8:16 PM: 66/2 (7 overs)
Bumrah and Kamboj get Mumbai crucial breakthroughs. Hyderabad still have in-form Head batting on 46 off 27.
8:00 PM: 56/0 (6 Overs)
MI debutant Anshul Kamboj gets the dangerous Travis Head, but it was adjudged a no-ball and Head manages to be off the hook for now. Is another of those Head's centuries underway tonight?
7:57 PM: 29/0 (5 Overs)
Sunrisers Hyderabad making the most of the powerplay overs. They start steady with in-form openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head in the middle. It looks like a difficult batting wicket at the moment.
7:45 PM: 17/0 (3 overs)
A little different strategy being utilised by the MI management here. Skipper Pandya has used three of his bowlers already with four overs running, leaving fans puzzled. Obly time will tell if this tactic will pay dividends.
7:34 PM: 7/0 (1 Over)
A slow start from SRH, just saying that by the standards of how they have began this season. 7 runs come rom the first over.
