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HomeCricketIPL 23rd Match Preview: Mumbai Indians v Sunrisers Hyderabad

IPL 23rd Match Preview: Mumbai Indians v Sunrisers Hyderabad

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Last Updated on 7 years by Charbel Coorey

MI vs SRH IPL 2018 Cricket Blog

The emotionally bruised vs. the physically bruised.

Mumbai Indians are in somewhat familiar territory, making a slow start to an IPL tournament. Their campaign in 2018 has been remarkable though, losing four games inside the final over. In a parallel universe, they’d be five wins out of five, and sitting pretty at the top of the table. Instead, they are getting to a point where they are losing room for error, even though they have experience of winning an IPL title with a similar start. In 2015, they lost five of their first six and went on to win – can they start a big winning run with victory in this game?

Sunrisers Hyderabad nearly pulled off a CSK-like heist on CSK, but enter this game with plenty of injury concerns. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a key bowler, will be rested, and it’s a possibility Shikhar Dhawan and Yusuf Pathan will miss the game as well. The onus for SRH is on the bowlers, who conceded 141 in the final 11 overs against CSK, and ended up finishing four runs short. Despite this disappointment, plenty of encouragement has come about from SRH’s amazing comeback thanks to Kane Williamson, Yusuf Pathan and Rashid Khan right at the end, nearly stealing victory.

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Key to a Mumbai Indians win

MI possess two of the best death bowlers in the world in Jasprit Bumrah and Mustafizur Rahman, and
 yet they haven’t been able to close out games. In the four games they have lost, MI have conceded a total of 132 runs in the last three overs (12 overs in total) of each game, showing they haven’t won the pressure moments of matches.
If this game is close, do MI have what it takes to hold their nerve? Also, they need more from the likes of Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya. If they can score big runs, they may not face a high pressure situation at the end of the game.
With SRH nearly stealing victory at the death vs CSK, MI need to be better in their execution in the pressure moments.

Key to a Sunrisers Hyderabad win

SRH’s bowling performances have been underwhelming in their last two games. When you’re considered to have the best bowling attack in the league, conceding 182/3 after having a team 41/2 after nine overs is a big disappointment.
The bowlers need to lift in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the Wankhede, especially when you consider Shikhar Dhawan and Yusuf Pathan could both miss out. Rashid Khan has shown us he is human and can have a bad game or two, going for 104 off eight overs in his last two games combined. He needs to stand up, which won’t be easy against a MI side boasting two players who have struck gold against legspin in IPL cricket since 2015 – Krunal Pandya (SR 197.00) and Ishan Kishan (171.83).
Responsibility will also be on Shakib Al Hasan, Billy Stanlake and Siddarth Kaul to perform, who are all well established in the SRH team. However, an option could be to leave out Stanlake or Shakib for big-hitting Englishman Alex Hales, if Shikhar Dhawan is out.

Predicted teams:

MI will choose against any changes, in my opinion. They are not far away from winning multiple games in a row to resurrect their season – their team on paper suggests they can do damage.
Mumbai Indians XI: 1. Suryakumar Yadav, 2. Evin lewis, 3. Ishan Kishan (wk), 4. Rohit Sharma (c), 5. Kieron Pollard, 6. Krunal Pandya, 7. Hardik Pandya, 8. Mitchell McGlenaghan, 9. Mayank Markande, 10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Mustafizur Rahman
SRH look a lot less settled with some injury concerns in their camp. Shikhar Dhawan and Yusuf Pathan are in doubt, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar rested. If one or both are out, significant responsibility will be placed on Kane Williamson again, who was brilliant against CSK.
Sunrisers Hyderabad XI: 1. Shikhar Dhawan, 2. Kane Williamson (c), 3, Manish Pandey, 4. Deepak Hooda, 5. Shakib Al Hasan/Alex Hales, 6. Yusuf Pathan/Sachin Baby, 7. Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8. Rashid Khan, 9. Billy Stanlake, 10. Sandeep Sharma, 11. Siddarth Kaul

Stats and Facts:

  • Head-to-Head: Matches: 11, MI 5, SRH 6. At Wankhede, MI have won all three games against SRH. In the other meeting between the sides in this tournament, SRH snuck home by one wicket.
  • SRH will be missing so much if Shikhar Dhawan doesn’t play, in addition to Bhuvneshwar Kumar being out. Dhawan averages 53.87 in 11 matches against MI, with 431 runs at a SR of 133.85 to his name. Kumar has 16 wickets in 12 games v MI, at an economy rate of just 5.64.
  • MI really don’t agree with the death overs this season, with both bat and ball. With the bat, they’ve scored at just 8.88 per over in the final five overs. With the ball, they’ve struggled to close out games when in winning positions.
  • SRH must choose Shakib Al Hasan. He has taken six wickets at the Wankhede in IPL cricket, with an economy rate of 6.60. 
  • If MI lose this game, they will match their start to the IPL 2015 campaign (5 losses out of first 6) where they ended up winning the tournament.

Prediction:

It has been a tournament of near misses for MI so far, but I believe they will win this game at home. SRH’s chances rest heavily on how Rashid Khan performs, as well as whether Shikhar Dhawan is fit enough to play. If he does, then SRH are a good chance, but I believe MI have the batting strength to take down to SRH attack.
MI to get their second win.

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Charbel Coorey
Charbel Cooreyhttps://cricblog.net
Charbel is the owner & founder of cricblog.net, based in Sydney, Australia. He started the website to fulfill his love for the game of cricket. Charbel has been featured on other publications including OP India, Times of India, and The Roar, among others. He is also a keen fantasy sports player. Charbel has also had the privilege of interviewing cricketers on the CricBlog TV YouTube channel, including James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen, Andrew Tye, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat and Saurabh Netravalkar: https://www.youtube.com/@cricblogtv For any story tips or questions, you can contact Charbel at charbelcoorey@cricblog.net.

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