IPL 2018, Match 23, MI vs SRH Match Prediction: Who will win the match today, Mumbai Indians or Sunrisers Hyderabad?

Mumbai Indians faced another heart-breaking loss at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium last night and it’s now turning into a desperate situation for the defending champions. While they will be taking heart from the fact that they have made comebacks from such situations before and have actually gone on to win the titles, they will also be well aware of the fact that repeating it every season is incredibly difficult and thus, they will definitely be concerned.

However, the good thing for Mumbai is that they are playing their next game at home and the opponent they are going to come across is short on confidence. The Sunrisers Hyderabad who at the start of the last week were topping the table have all of a sudden lost the plot with two consecutive losses and have slipped down the standings.

This will be the return fixture between these two teams as they have already met once before in the tournament and that game ended in a Hyderabad victory as they pulled off a heist at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. While they will be keen on replicating that at the Wankhede as well, the Mumbai Indians will be citing revenge.

Pitch and Conditions

The Wankhede pitch last game was a little damp early on with slight moisture underneath the surface as a result of which the ball nipped around for the first couple of overs. However the dampness didn’t remain there for too long and once it disappeared, the pitch was as flat as a road and good for stroke-play with nice, even bounce which has always been a familiar trait of the pitches at this venue.

The nature of the pitch for tomorrow’s game should remain the same and bowling first will be an easy decision for the captain who wins the toss. Not just because of the help the fast bowlers will get from the pitch early on, but also because of the dew that will enhance the batting conditions significantly in the second innings.

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Playing Combination

Mumbai Indians

Probable Changes – Mitchell McClenaghan out, Adam Milne in

McClenaghan has been very, very inconsistent in the global T20 circuit in the last 6 months. Whether it’s the BBL, PSL or here in the IPL, he hasn’t got it right. Barring that one good spell against RCB where he dismissed Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers, he has been smashed all around. Even in the last game against Rajasthan, the left-armer was totally out of rhythm and Rohit Sharma didn’t show enough confidence in him to bowl the last over despite him having one over left in his quota. He will probably be dropped in the favour of his compatriot Adam Milne.

Mayank Markande has lost his sting in comparison to the first few games where he was all over the batsmen like a rash. The batsmen seem to have worked him out and are tackling him a bit better. While Mumbai has another leg-spin option in Rahul Chahar, they are not likely to go to him just yet and should persist with Markande for a few more games.

Predicted XI: Surya Kumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (C), Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Adam Milne, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman, Mayank Markande

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Probable Changes – Ricky Bhui out, Shikhar Dhawan in, Bhuvneshwar Kumar out, Sandeep Sharma in

Hyderabad had rested Shikhar Dhawan last game as he had not properly recovered from the blow he had taken on his elbow facing Barinder Sran against Kings XI Punjab. However, he should be fine for this one and should walk straight into the XI on the place of Ricky Bhui who opened in Dhawan’s absence but couldn’t make his opportunity count.

Hyderabad will like to make some shuffling in their batting order as well and get Wriddhiman Saha back to opening the batting as he didn’t look effective at all batting lower down the order the other afternoon in the CSK game. Hyderabad can get the best out of him only if they play him at the top with the field up.

Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (C), Shakib Al Hasan, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Billy Stanlake

Team Comparison

Mumbai might be struggling at the moment, but they are better suited to the Wankhede conditions than Hyderabad simply because of the batting power they possess. It, in all likelihood, will be the bat versus bat contest if the pitch is flat and that’s where Mumbai’s strength with the bat will come to fore.

Hyderabad, although they ooze quality with the ball, they lack power with the bat. Most of their batsmen including the captain Williamson himself relies on touch play and most of the time in high scoring games, touch play doesn’t do the job.

Probable Top Performers

Krunal Pandya (Mumbai Indians), Shikhar Dhawan (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Head to Head

Matches – 11, Mumbai Indians– 5, Sunrisers Hyderabad – 6

The timing of the match: 08:00 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports Hindi, Star Sports Select 1

Online – Jio TV, Hotstar

The prediction is for the Mumbai Indians to beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad in this match.