IPL 6: Match 62 - MI vs SRH - Mumbai Indians Preview

Sunrisers Hyderabad are in for a daunting task today, as they brace themselves for a face-off against the mighty MI at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Sunrisers Hyderabad will be going into this match with a bit of momentum on their side after winning their last match against KXIP convincingly by 30 runs. On the other hand, MI have been unstoppable this season, and also are fresh from a dominating win over PWI in their last encounter. MI are placed 3rd on the points table with 18 points, while SRH are holding the 5th spot with 8 wins so far. A win today for SRH might just guarantee a place for them in the play-offs.

MI have been pretty impressive this season, which is not surprising considering their consistent performances in all the previous seasons. But somehow they haven’t managed to win a single edition of the tournament so far. However, this season, they are well on their way, and are definitely looking good to lift the trophy. There have been very few reasons to ponder over regarding their batting so far, with almost all the batsmen striking the ball well. Sachin Tendulkar has been a bit disappointing, barring some of his quick-fire 20s and 30s at the top. Dwayne Smith has been consistent piling up useful runs opening the batting. Dinesh Karthik has been among the runs all season, and seems to have resurrected himself in the shortest format of the game. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have been simply stupendous at the death overs, giving the oppositions some nightmares to deal with. But dealing with the SRH bowling line-up, which has been arguably the best this season, might be a huge challenge for the MI batsmen. SRH have the likes of Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma in their squad, who have very effective this season.

On similar lines, the MI bowlers have been bang-on right from the word go. Mitchell Johnson has led them very well, and has been brilliant with the new ball, swinging it both the ways. As evident from the last few seasons, Lasith Malinga has been MI’s go-to bowler at the death, and the Sri Lankan has responded to the challenge reasonably well. Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha have formed a potent spin duo among themselves. It will be interesting to see if they play Glenn Maxwell today in case Kieron Pollard is declared fit to go.

Conditions:

The pitch here has been a batting fortress so far in this season, and is expected to behave no different today as well. But it has something in it for the bowlers as well with its even bounce and carry. Small ground dimensions might also add to the bowlers’ woes.

Head to head:

The win-loss ratio slightly favours MI, as they won 6 out of the 11 games played between the two teams so far. SRH (previously DC) have managed to win 5 out of them.

Key Players:

Rohit Sharma- The Mumbai Indians’ captain has been in cracking form and is striking the ball well. His contribution in the middle order holds the key to Mumbai’s chances in this match.

Mitchell Johnson- The left-arm Australian pacer has been sensational so far for MI. He is making the ball talk, and has been their main wicket taker with the new ball this season. One wonders his exclusion from the Ashes team has something to do with it.

MI’s strategy:

It should not be a problem for them to bat first on a very batting-friendly track upon winning the toss. They have been winning doing the same, and are expected to do nothing different today against a formidable SRH bowling.

Possible XI:

MI have winning a lot of games lately, especially at home. They are likely to field the same team today as well barring a couple of changes. Kieron Pollard might replace Glenn Maxwell, if he is declared fit to play today.

Dwayne Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Rohit Sharma(c), Kieron Pollard/Glenn Maxwell, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Y Chahal/A Ahmed, Lasith Malinga and Pragyan Ojha.