MUMBAI: Eyeing for the playoffs berth, both Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad will desperately look for a win as they face as each other in the next IPL match of the ongoing IPL season at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.
Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings have already qualified, and MI and SRH are currently placed at 3rd and 4th place in the table, respectively.
MI have 14 points in 12 matches with seven wins and five losses whereas SRH have 12 points with 6 wins and six losses.
MI will join CSK and DC in the IPL 2019 playoffs with a single victory in the remaining two matches on the other hand SRH will have to definitely win their remaining two matches against MI and RCB to qualify.
For SRH, the absence of Warner will be a big factor who has gone back to home for the World Cup preparations. The left-handed batsman, who scored 81 in the previous game, is the leading run-scorer of the tournament at the moment, with 692 runs in 12 games.
In absence of Warner, other SRH batsmen including the likes of skipper Kane Williamson, Wriddhiman Saha, Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, and Deepak Hooda will have to take responsibilities against a dominant Mumbai Indians side.
SRH bowling also have been very inconsistent this season and even their main bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan have leaked runs at crucial stages of the match. However, young pacer K Ahmed has impressed everyone with his performance.
Mumbai Indians top-order batsmen had a pretty ordinary performance as they have lacked consistency with the bat this season apart from their finishers.
For MI, Hardik Pandya has been in sensational form with the bat this season. In the previous game, Pandya smashed 91 runs in 34 balls and almost chased down the total of 232 set by KKR.
MI have two batsmen in form of Hardik Pandya (355 from 12) and West Indian powerhouse Kieron Pollard (228 from 12) who can single-handedly take the match away from Hyderabad’s hands.
In bowling, MI have the likes of Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya who can rattle the oppositions batting. However, they will miss West Indies youngster Alzarri Joseph who he has been ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury.
The last time, SRH played against MI, Alzarri Joseph had the best bowling spell ever in the history of IPL claiming six wickets.
(AGENCIES)
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