The State of Play
Sunrisers Hyderabad are coming off the back of a dramatic IPL 2024 win over Rajasthan Royals and will look to compound the misery on Mumbai Indians tomorrow.
MI remain rooted to the foot of the table and are on the brink of elimination having lost their last four matches.
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Their last win came against Punjab Kings in the middle of April and they have only picked up three wins all season from 11 matches played.
MI were beaten comfortably on Friday after being all out for 145, failing to reach Kolkata Knight Riders’ 169.
Only Suryakumar Yadav was able to get any rhythm in his batting, scoring 56 from 35 balls.
The next-highest scorer was Tim David on 24, but no other player was able to pick up anywhere near enough runs and captain Hardik Pandya went for one off three balls in another disappointing performance.
𝗣𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 💪#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/3J3tbn73Pg
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 5, 2024
With three games remaining and 14 being the magic number to potentially head through to the play-offs, the season is all but over for Mark Boucher and his players, who have not claimed the IPL title since 2020.
The loss led to former World Cup winner Irfan Pathan slamming Pandya and call for a change of direction for MI.
He said: “Mumbai Indians’ story ends here. This team was so good on paper, but it wasn’t managed. The questions that were raised on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy were absolutely right.
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“Captaincy has a big impact in the game. Mumbai Indians don’t look like a united team, and management needs to consider this.
“Players need to respect and accept the captain, and we didn’t see that on-field. They have to improve in that aspect.”
On the other hand, SRH are sitting in fourth spot having won six of their ten matches and will fancy their chances to challenge the three teams above them in the remaining few weeks.
Their one-run win over RR on Thursday was a nail-biting affair, with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen ending the innings with a partnership of 118 not out while Travis Head opened the match with a respectable 58-run haul.
It was due to a late no-ball that SRH were able to clinch the dramatic victory and it sparked huge celebrations on and off the pitch.
SRH ended the match on 201/3 after opting to bat first and earned praise from former captain David Warner.
Posting on social media, he said: “How good is the IPL, Glenn Phillips take a bow, Well played Sunrisers!”
Expected line-ups
Mumbai Indians: Kishan (wk), Sharma, Yadav, Varma, Wadhera, Pandya (c), David, Nabi, Coetzee, Chawla, Bumrah
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Sharma, Head, Markram, Klaasen (wk), Kumar Reddy, Samad, Ahmed, Cummins (c), Markande, Kumar, Unadkat
Our leading wicket-taker eyeing up his next target 😎🎯 pic.twitter.com/CPruAIokdX
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) May 5, 2024
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Monday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.50pm BST.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Prediction
The two teams met earlier in the season and played out an incredible encounter.
SRH posted a record 277/3 and MI responded well, hitting 246/5 in one of the matches of the season.
This time, it may be a different state of affairs with the two sides placed at opposite ends of the table and Sunrisers are hot with the bat having hit over 200 runs in half of their games this season.
Head, Sharma and Klaasen will all be key across the 20 overs while Natarajan is in fine form with his bowling.
MI will be looking to Varma to maintain his average of nearly 40 runs per game this season and Sharma will need to put up a big innings if the bottom-placed side are to have a chance here.
