For the last afternoon game of the season, the Mumbai Indians take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad, at the Wankhede Stadium. While the Men from the South, who have had yet another disappointing season, will be playing to salvage their pride, Mumbai have their qualification hopes pinned on this match.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD:
SRH came into this IPL season with one of the strongest XIs on paper. A dynamic batting line up with established international foreign stars backed by a bowling attack with enormous quality, it was at least expected that they would return back to the playoffs this season. However, everything has gone wrong for them. Only 2 batsmen from SRH have had an average above 25 and strike rate above 130. No SRH bowler has had an average below 25,with the best being Markande (25.00). Poor performances from the players was backed by constant chip-chops from the management. SRH's leading wicket taker of last season, Umran was dropped mid-way through the season, although Natarajan, who has inferior statistics relatively, has been preferred. Golden Boy Brooks' poor performance has been another huge disappointment for the team this season. Thus, SRH would hope to end the season on a high and come back with better clarity next season.
Predicted Playing XI:
Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (C), Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Dagar (Impact player: T Natarajan for Abdul Samad)
MUMBAI INDIANS:
Mumbai Indians have had a roller coaster journey till now. With the way their bowlers performed in the initial matches coupled with Archer's return to the hospital bed, Mumbai were staring at a bottomless pit. However, "cometh the hour, cometh the man", and so did Piyush Chawla. 20 wickets @ average of 19 with an economy of 7.15, Chawla has produced his best IPL season in his 15th year. Coupled with terrific all-round batting performances from the rest of the team, Mumbai looked set for their 6th title, however their last loss against LSG has put them in a difficult position. Not only is this a must win game for them, MI would also need to win big to get anywhere close to RCB's NRR (given that RCB wins their match later in the evening).
Predicted Playing XI:
Ishan Kishan (WK), Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Nehal Wadhera, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Cam Green, Hrithik Shokeen, Akash Madhwal, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff (Impact player: Arshad Khan for Tilak Verma)
Interesting Trivia:
- Rohit Sharma is one duck away from having the single highest number of ducks in IPL.
- Tim David has scored 226 runs @average of 45 with a SR of 225 while playing at the Wankhede.
- Piyush needs 4 wickets to gain the purple cap for the moment
Weather and Pitch Report:
It's expected to be a clear sky and hence one can expect a cracker of a contest. Wankhede as usual has been a belter and given the 2 bowling attacks, it should be a 400 run clash
Date and Time: 21st May, 3:30 PM IST
Venue: Wankhede, Mumbai
Live Streaming: Star Sports network and Jio Cinema.
Dream XI Team:
