IPL 2021, SRH vs MI preview: Struggling Hyderabad seek much-needed win against in-form Mumbai

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Back in the groove after two consecutive wins, defending champions Mumbai Indians will be the firm favourites against bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League in Delhi on Tuesday.

Mumbai will enter the game after their four-wicket win over in-form Chennai Super Kings courtesy Kieron Pollard’s sensational innings.

Kieron Pollard’s 87* off 34 balls: A magical innings by Mumbai Indians’ big-match player

Sunrisers, in contrast, suffered a 55-run loss to Rajasthan Royals, their sixth in seven games this season. They are also battling a transitional phase in which Kane Williamson has taken over captaincy from David Warner.

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Mumbai openers Rohit Sharma (250 runs) and Quinton De Kock (155 runs) will look to give the five-time champions another strong platform and also convert their starts into big scores.

Mumbai’s hard-hitting middle-order has clicked in the last two games, which would be quite pleasing for the team management. Pollard (168 runs), who blazed his way to a match-winning 87 off 34 balls in the last game, would be keen to continue from where he left off.

The likes of Krunal Pandya (100 runs), Hardik Pandya (52 runs) and Suryakumar Yadav (173 runs) can be destructive on their day and the trio will be aiming to fire in unison.

Also, it remains to be seen if Mumbai play Ishan Kishan or Jayant Yadav in place of New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham, who had a forgettable debut for the franchise against Chennai.

However, the Mumbai bowlers would need to forget the hammering received at the hands of the CSK batsmen and start afresh.

Pacers Jasprit Bumrah (6 wickets) and Trent Boult (8 wickets) have been decent at the death and would pose a threat to the SRH batting unit, which has been inconsistent so far.

Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (11 wickets) has been MI’s main wicket-taker, but he will need support from Krunal, who has just three wickets to his name. The duo would need to keep things tight to contain the SRH batters.

It remains to be seen if Sandeep Sharma plays again or makes way for Siddharth Kaul.

Squads

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Adam Milne, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, James Neesham, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Quinton De Kock (wk), Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Yudhvir Singh.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C), David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami, Wriddhiman Saha, Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Virat Singh, Jason Holder, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman.

Match starts at 7.30 pm IST on Tuesday.

(With inputs from PTI)