IPL 2015, Match 56 Preview: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians

Royals were the second team to qualify for the IPL playoffs

Even after the completion of 54 games in the 8th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), two playoff spots are up for grabs, with three teams - Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) - vying for that 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in the IPL points table.

From Mumbai's perspective, the equation is straightforward: win against the Sunrisers, and you are guaranteed of a spot in the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

The visitors, though, have a massive proposition in front of them, as the hosts were quite unlucky to lose against the Royal Challengers on Friday and are a vastly improved unit since the last time these sides met at the Wankhede Stadium.

The Indians, on their own, have done well to be in 5th place on the points table, after losing their first four games and looking absolutely clueless as a unit.

It has been great recovery from both these teams that will look to knock each other out of the competition when they face off at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad tonight. Which side will prevail, playing their best cricket under such extreme pressure? Read on...

Hyderabad

This South-Indian franchise has a chance of making it to the playoffs for the second time in their history since the change in ownership prior to the start of the 2013 season.

This season, in particular, the Sunrisers have played an eccentric brand of cricket under the leadership of David Warner, who, with 556 runs to his name, is the leading run-scorer in this edition of the IPL.

The Australian left-hander has got his side off to many a quick start at the top of the order, along with Shikhar Dhawan, who himself has scored over 350 runs.

However, Sunrisers were all about their openers, and the rest of that batting lineup didn't deliver, for most part of the first half of their campaign.

Things, however, have turned around for the good and the injection of Moises Henriques in that No.3 position has paid rich dividends.

Moises Henriques has helped his side turnaround their form

The New South Wales all-rounder has got runs (276 in just 8 innings) with the bat, and accrued 11 wickets, as well, averaging more than 1 wicket-per-game in his 8 outings for SRH.

Eoin Morgan has come in place of fellow countryman Ravi Bopara, featuring in most of his side's games in the second half of the ongoing season.

His inclusion in the playing XI has added more firepower to the Sunrisers' batting lineup, but the Irish-born batsman would have wanted to contribute more than one 50+ score he has managed in the tournament so far.

The aforementioned quartet has to come good with the bat tonight, if their side is to pip Mumbai and march onto the IPL playoffs for the second time in their history.

The Sunrisers' bowling attack has been spearheaded by Bhuvneshwar Kumar who, with 18 wickets to his name, is fourth on the list of contenders for the Purple Cap in this year's Pepsi IPL.

It has been a bit tricky for Sunrisers in selecting one amongst Trent Boult and Dale Steyn, who has played in just 5 games this season while the New Zealander has featured in 7 of the 13 SRH games so far.

For tonight, however, Steyn will maintain his place in the playing XI, as Boult has joined with the national squad in England ahead of the Test series that begins at the Lord's on the 21st of May.

The likes of Praveen Kumar and Karn Sharma have bowled to the best of their abilities, picking 7 and 9 wickets respectively.

Going into tonight's game, as aforementioned, their batting lineup has to come good. They would relish batting first if the opportunity comes along too, as 6 of their 7 victories in the tournament have come while they have put a total on the board.

Mumbai are a dangerous side to play against, especially with Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya striking form just at the right moment in their side's nail-biting victory against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). However, when Sunrisers bowl, early wickets are going to be the key to causing problems in the MI ranks.

Mumbai

The Indians' season has in many ways been akin to the Sunrisers', but they have looked a better all-round side since they got their act together and started to win games consistently.

The openers - Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons - deserve great credit for the kind of starts they have rendered Mumbai over the last 6-7 games, with the left-hander in particular scoring quick runs while Simmons has taken his time to settle down and play a long innings.

In the MI middle-order, Ambati Rayudu has shone as a batsman during the second half of the season, which has seen him play many a match-winning knock against the likes of Delhi Daredevils (DD), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) (at the MA Chidambaram Stadium).

Pandya's batting has been so invigorating to watch

Further down the batting order, Pandya has played that 'aggressor role' to perfection in the latter stages of his side's innings; he has shown a good head on his shoulders, too.

Rohit Sharma has disappointed with the bat since scoring that magnificent 98* against the Knight Riders in the season opener at the Eden Gardens. He will look to come good tonight, and find some form before the playoffs, if Mumbai do get there.

Pollard had a mighty important role to play, both with the bat and ball, in his side's last game and will be a confident man going into tonight's game.

Such a batting order will hold Mumbai in good stead against the Sunrisers.

MI's bowling attack has had a mixed bag throughout this IPL, but they have delivered results for their side whenever needed.

Lasith Malinga, after being woefully out of form early on in the campaign, has comeback strongly and led the MI attack like he has done over the years.

He has been well complemented by Mitchell McClenaghan who, with 11 wickets from 9 games, has added more muscle to the Mumbai bowling attack that was taken to the cleaners by the likes of Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Knight Riders during that 4 game win-less run at the very beginning of this season.

Harbhajan Singh and Jagadeesha Suchith have done reasonably well, though the Turbanator has not been consistent and failed to bowl to his reputation on many an occasion this season.

Suchith, the left-arm spinner from Karnataka, has shown good maturity, particularly while bowling in the powerplay overs where Rohit has sought to use him for two overs, at least.

Vinay Kumar has featured in 10 of his side's 13 games, but has been the weak link of this attack, picking up a mere four wickets and conceding close to 8.50 runs per over.

Going into tonight's game, the Indians will be relatively confident of upstaging the hosts and making it to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

They, however, need to remind themselves that things aren't going to be easy against a Hyderabad side packed with stroke-makers, who will hold the key to their side's chances of winning this game.

Like the Sunrisers, Mumbai will rely on their batsman to rise up to the plate and deliver in a crunch game like this.

Final Thought

We should be in for a very competitive game of T20 cricket, with the visitors starting as favorites to make their way into the playoffs.

No disrespect to the Sunrisers, whose strength lies in their batting and the top order, led by Warner, has to come good, if the hosts are to pose serious problems for Mumbai.

The wicket in Hyderabad is a placid one to bat on

The wicket at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium is a very good one to bat on, therefore, whichever bowling attack comes out on top will most likely win it for their side.

Indian Premier League: Five Talking Points From Mumbai Indians' Victory Over Sunrisers Hyderabad

Mumbai Indians' bowling, spearheaded by Malinga, came good yesterday

Mumbai Indians (MI) registered their second win of this season's Indian Premier League (IPL), as they comfortably overcame an ordinary Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) side by 20 runs at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday.

Rohit Sharma chose to bat first after winning the toss, but his side could manage only 157/8, which was a below par score on a pitch that was on the slower side.

In reply, Sunrisers got off to a blistering start, with Shikhar Dhawan striking boundaries at will and taking the attack to Harbhajan Singh in particular, as the visitors raced to 50 well within the powerplay which, however, accounted for both the Sunrisers' openers.

Mumbai started growing in confidence at the fall of Dhawan for 42, as they succeeded in choking up the runs while also picking wickets at regular intervals, eventually going onto win the game by 20 runs.

In retrospect, what did we learn from that MI performance which... well, was good enough on the day?

MI still cannot get their team combination right

Prior to the game, I felt that the 1-time IPL winners needed a fresh opening pair. Parthiv Patel, who is experiencing a below-par IPL season with the bat, isn't the kind of batsman who will give you blistering starts at the top of the innings.

Having been handed a 5th consecutive opportunity in the playing XI, the diminutive southpaw scored a run-a-ball 17, failing to rotate strike and not playing the ideal foil for Lendl Simmons.

Also, in the bowling department, the selection of Vinay Kumar, who had picked up just 1 wicket and an economy rate of over 8 in the 4 games prior to yesterday, was inexplicable. The decision to sacrifice a batsman (Hardik Pandya) in order to make space for a bowler was not wrong, but the choice of replacement was definitely not the right one.

Jagadeesha Suchith, who replaced Jasprit Bumrah, bowled well and played a significant role in Mumbai getting a stranglehold of proceedings during the middle stages of the visitors' innings.

Fortuitously for the home side, none of their selection blunders cost them yesterday.

Mumbai's approach to their batting innings was plain cynical

Rohit, at the toss, said that his side would be cautious upfront, not lose wickets and pull the trigger during the latter stages of their innings.

Having not got off to good starts so far in the season, it was probably a sensible approach, which was executed to perfection by both the Mumbai openers.

However, the Indians left themselves with too much to do in the second-half of their innings. They reached 72/2 at the end of 10 overs and had Simmons and Rohit in the middle, but the nature of the surface was such that it got harder to score runs as the ball got older and older, a pattern that Rohit was well aware of before the game.

In addition to the slow playing surface on offer, Mumbai had to contend with a good Sunrisers' bowling attack that did not have a weak link in it, and on their own, they were a batsman short.

Taking these aspects into consideration, it was tough to understand why Mumbai took the defensive approach at the beginning of the innings, and found themselves way behind the eight ball going into the last 10 overs.

Simmons' form is a major positive

The Caribbean opener came up with a well-compiled knock of 51(42) that, in a way, held the innings together.

Simmons' 51(42) was crucial in the context of the game

On a slow surface it was crucial for the hosts that one batsman anchored the innings, which Simmons did.

When Dale Steyn dismissed the right-hander, Mumbai had reached 100/3 after 12.3 overs but could muster a mere 57 off the remaining 45 deliveries, highlighting the significance of the 30-year old's innings at the top of the order.

In the coming games, Simmons' form will be crucial to Mumbai's chances of surging upwards in the league table. With Rohit slotting himself at No.4, MI need a batsman, who can score quick runs and also face a good portion of the team's 20 overs, at the top of the order.

Simmons suffered an injury on his right leg while trying to stop a boundary, and went off the field with 5-6 overs to go. The Indians would be hoping that he is fit to play for them against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May Day.

The bowling lineup came good...finally

Though the batting unit hasn't really delivered except for one game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the bowling attack has had some serious questions asked of it.

With the batting unit once again failing to put up a decent score on the board, the onus was on MI's bowling to come up with a match-winning effort, and Lasith Malinga and co. did just that.

Harbhajan had a disappointing outing, conceding easy boundaries to Dhawan, who accrued 18 runs off the Turbanator's second over. Though the off-spinner came back well in his last two overs, he ended up conceding 36 off his 4 overs.

Mitchell McClenaghan and Malinga were the standout bowlers, who picked up 7 wickets between them and conceded a mere 43 runs in their 8 overs.

McClenaghan, in particular, bowled very well and dismissed some of the key SRH batsmen - Dhawan, K Lokesh Rahul and Ravi Bopara - at various stages during the innings.

Malinga took 3 wickets in his last over, and also accounted for David Warner at the beginning of Sunrisers' innings.

Suchith bowled an economic four over spell that was taken for only 25 runs, with Naman Ojha also getting out to the Karnataka spinner.

Mumbai Indians cannot read too much into their victory yesterday

It wouldn't be unfair of any of us to say that MI were a tad lucky to register their second win of this IPL season. 

The batting unit did not put up even a competitive score on the board, with Simmons and Kieron Pollard being the only batsmen who, with scores of 51 and 33 respectively, gave some respectability to the MI innings. 

And although the bowling attack delivered a good performance when it was needed the most, Sunrisers, once the duo of Warner and Dhawan got out, didn't even have one good batsman, who could have given the MI bowlers something to think about, in their middle and lower middle order.

Mumbai are yet to get their playing XI right too, meaning that they cannot be overly buoyant with the result yesterday.

There is plenty of work to be done.

Final Thought

With 5 more days to go before Mumbai face Rajasthan at the Wankhede Stadium, Ricky Ponting and company would be pleased about the victory last evening.

MI probably do not possess a quality squad like the Chennai Super Kings's or the Kings XI Punjab's. But, if they can get the balance of their playing XI spot on and build on from yesterday's victory over the Sunrisers, it would not be beyond them to make it to the playoffs for the sixth season running. 

Indian Premier League (IPL): Can The Mumbai Indians Get Their Act Together Against Sunrisers Hyderabad?

Rohit has to continue performing with the bat for the Mumbai Indians

After playing two back-to-back away games, Mumbai Indians (MI) will return to their fortress, the Wankhede Stadium, to take on the mercurial Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) later today.

The Indians' only victory of the campaign came against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), which was a closely contested battle at the Chinnaswamy Stadium where the visitors that day did well to pile on an impressive 209 on the board and followed it up with a decent bowling effort to restrict the Challengers to 191, going on to win the game by 18 runs.

Mumbai have been overwhelmed in each of their other 5 games, as they just haven't been able to deliver with either the bat, ball or on the field.

However, having said that, the likes of Harbhajan Singh, skipper Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have come good on occasions during this campaign and will hope to contribute to the team's cause once again against the Sunrisers.

More than the individual performances, from MI's perspective: the question is whether everyone in that playing XI can contribute in some way or another, starting today against SRH? Read on... as we try to discern what the 1-time IPL winners need to do in order to get their second win of the campaign.

The foremost concern for the Indians going into today's game will be the nature of the playing surface at the Wankhede: benign, good for batting and not really bowler-friendly. Though MI's batting has flattered to deceive, except for one game against RCB, it is their bowling that has let them down more than their batting.

MI bowlers need to dislodge the Warner-Dhawan duo quickly

Sunrisers do not possess too many hard-hitting batsmen in their arsenal, except for the duo of Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner. However, both these men are in very good form, scored half-centuries in their side's last game against the Kolkata Knight Riders and will be licking their lips ahead of the clash against Mumbai.

Considering the palpable weaknesses in the bowling department and that this is a 4.00 PM start, Rohit should have no hesitation in batting first, if he wins the toss.

I thought that it was a mistake on the MI skipper's part to decide to bowl first against the Delhi Daredevils (DD), who piled on 190 on the board and took the game away from Mumbai. Therefore, toss, from MI's perspective, will be critical to their chances of winning this game.

Team Combination

Ricky Ponting and company ought to get their team combination totally spot on. Ambati Rayudu hasn't done much while batting in that No.6 and No.7 positions, and I don't think he can render much if he is persisted with at that position. Can he open? There are better options than him.

Rayudu, therefore, ideally should make way for a bowler, preferably Shreyas Gopal, who knows how to bat and is a good leg-spinner, too.

The other change I would make to the playing XI is that of Parthiv Patel. The wicket-keeper batsman has failed to harness his opportunity at the top of the order and, with a top score of 28 in 4 games, deserves to make way for Aditya Tare, who can be a dangerous middle-order batsman.

Batting Order

There should be no messing about with Lendl Simmons' place at the top of the order, but, who should partner him?

Unmukt Chand has to be promoted to the top of the MI batting order

Unmukt Chand has looked good during his last two outings against RCB and DD, and it would be a no brainer to get him to open the innings, making space for Rohit Sharma, who is arguably the team's best batsman, at No.3. That top 3, hopefully, should augur well for the Indians.

MI shouldn't be flustered by who bats at No.4, as it will all depend on how the top three perform. Rohit's best position is at No.3, as he can then play the anchor role for the team and have other batsmen play around him.

If all goes well, Pollard should walk in at No.4, a position that might even give him some time to settle in before going for extravagant strokes. The Caribbean dasher will obviously be followed by Hardik Pandya who, with his cameo innings of 16 from 4 balls against the Royal Challengers, showed that he can render quick runs with the bat and should, in all possibility, go in at No.5

Tare at No.6 will be a good option for the stuttering Mumbai Indians, who need their batsmen to deliver the goods while the bowling remains a major worry.

Bowling

The addition of Gopal will add more potency to the MI bowling attack, as the Karnataka leg-spinner will be a good foil for Harbhajan, who has toiled away as the solitary spinner in the side for much of this campaign.

The addition of another spinner to the bowling attack will also mean that Lasith Malinga, who has taken 6 wickets in 6 games so far this campaign, need not necessarily be brought on during the middle stages of the opposition's innings.

Jasprit Bumrah will look to comeback strongly after his no-show against the Daredevils on Thursday, when he bowled a lot of short-pitched deliveries that were dealt with severely by JP Duminy and Shreyas Iyer.

Mitchell McClenaghan needs to get more consistent and not be satisfied with just bowling well in patches.

Final Thought

The aforementioned blueprint should be the way to go for the two-time CLT20 winners, who cannot afford to lose today's game that could all but end their chances of making it to the playoffs.

The bowling remains 'the' biggest worry as far as MI are concerned, and today's result might just hinge on their bowling performance because of the nature of the wicket at the Wankhede Stadium.