IPL 9 Match 37 Preview: MI clash with SRH in the battle of the equals

The formidable Mumbai Indians (MI) will face a firm test when they face the in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) side at their new home venue, Vishakhapatnam, tomorrow evening. With three back to back wins, they will be rearing to go against SRH. The last time the two teams faced each other, Sunrisers registered a 7-wicket win and the Mumbai side will be itching for revenge when they meet their rivals at Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. SRH, on the other hand, looked highly refreshed after their 6 days break, defeating Gujarat Lions pretty comprehensively. The Hyderabad side has had a slightly better tournament than MI and sit just above them at No. 4 in the points table. But, Mumbai Indians also are in red-hot form. To conclude, both teams look equally tough and considering the current forms of both the teams, one can expect high-voltage clash tomorrow.

Mumbai Indians:

Mumbai Indians, with three back to wins, look in a rich vein of form. Injuries have stayed away from the MI camp.  Rohit Sharma, with 383 runs to his name, had led by example and will shoulder the batting responsibility. And, whenever Sharma fails, Ambati Rayudu and Parthiv Patel have stepped up and taken charge. There is no shortage of hard-hitting men in the team. Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard can help the run rate surge at their will. Hardik Pandya has had a quiet tournament both with the ball and bat. He might be itching to stand up to his reputation. Mitchell McClenaghan, with 13 wickets so far, is placed second in the top wicket-takers’ list. Jasprit Bumrah and Tim Southee have also been fabulous. The spin department consisting of Krunal Pandya and the experienced Harbhajan Singh have done their handsomely so far.

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Bowling has been the strength for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahane have shown no signs of slowing done and are getting better with every match. It has almost impossible sometimes to get going against this fast bowing trio. The spin attack is a negligible part in their pace-heavy bowling attack. Yuvraj Singh’s comeback gives a good all-round option. His failure in his comeback match can be shrugged off. He must look forward to make his impact. His team would need his handy spin bowling and quickfire batting against the strong MI side. Skipper David Warner and Kane Williamson had rare failure but will continue to have an influence over the opposition. Dhawan has not looked dominating but has done his job well. His patient unbeaten 49 run knock enabled his team to win the game pretty easily against Gujarat Lions. The middle order has to now stand on its own. It has been evident in the past that top order’s failure has resulted in negative results for the team. Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, and Naman Ojha must take that into consideration and play more responsibly with the bat.

Probable XI:

Mumbai Indians:

Rohit Sharma (C), Parthiv Patel (WK), Ambati Rayudu, Jos Buttler, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

David Warner (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Naman Ojha (WK), Deepak Hooda, Barinder Sran, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman

Stats and trivia:

• Bhuvneshwar and Mustafizur have a combined dot-ball tally of 123 from a sample size of 318.
• Dwayne Bravo could play his 300th T20 and 100th IPL match on Friday.

Also, read – IPL 9 Match 38 Preview: Gujarat Lions look to get back to winning ways