State of Play
Both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians began their 2024 Indian Premier League campaigns with agonising final-ball defeats and will be desperate to get off the mark when they meet at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday.
Sunrisers looked set to steal victory away from Kolkata Knight Riders in their season opener on Saturday, with Heinrich Klassen’s superb 29-ball 63 putting them within seven runs with five deliveries remaining.
However, KKR paceman Harshit Rana held firm to deny Hyderabad, who have now lost five straight games in a run dating back to last season.
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Despite the disappointment of Saturday’s loss, new skipper Pat Cummins believes there were plenty of positives for the team to take from the game, saying: “It was unexpected yet impressive to get that close.
“Competing against such a strong team, especially at their home ground, is commendable. There’s a lot from the game that’s encouraging, but also a few aspects we need to tweak.”
Homecoming awaits 😍🧡#PlayWithFire pic.twitter.com/xE7590aWjE
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) March 26, 2024
It was a similar story for Mumbai on Sunday, as the five-time IPL champions stumbled in the final over in their six-run defeat to the Gujarat Titans, for whom Umesh Yadav took two vital late wickets.
Hardik Pandya seemingly had the Indians on course for victory when he smashed 10 off the first two balls of a vital final over, only for Yadav to dismiss him and Piyush Chawla with successive deliveries to crush Mumbai’s hopes of a season-opening win.
In his post-match interview, a bullish Hardik declared: “It’s not an issue, there’s 13 games to go.” The pressure, however, will certainly ramp up for whichever of these teams makes it two losses from two games on Wednesday.
Expected line-ups
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan.
Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Shams Mulani, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chala, Jasprit Bumrah, Luke Wood.
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Wednesday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 1.50pm GMT. Coverage on Sky Sports Main Event starts at 2pm.
खातिरदारी koi apne Tilak se seekhe 😋💙#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians | @TilakV9 pic.twitter.com/LnWPtDyWkR
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 26, 2024
Prediction
Mumbai have a reputation as slow starters, losing their first match of every IPL season since 2012. They have, however, captured all five of their titles during that time, so they shouldn’t be fazed by having to wait for their first points of the year.
We fancy them to get off the mark here. With Bumrah back fit and Rohit in great nick, they should have too much for a Sunrisers team which still lacks scoring power, though Kumar’s pursuit of Rohit’s wicket could prove vital, particularly with the Uppal pitch offering some assistance to pacemen.
