Follow UsThere was a time in this tournament when Sunrisers Hyderabad were far ahead in the competition. They had five wins in a row and were placed in the top two. That time seems long ago. They are now on a string of five defeats. They cannot reach 16 points now. Their negative net run-rate diminishes their qualification chances to less than one percent (as per Criclytics).
On the other hand, the flight of Mumbai Indians never took off. The less said the better. However, in the last four games, they have won three.
On the points table, it is number 8 versus number 10. But it isn’t a dead rubber in its truest sense. Hyderabad will like to have a last throw of the dice while Mumbai will be motivated to escape the wooden spoon.
SRH’s bowling heading south
Ever since their existence in 2013, SRH have been a bowling side. That is what has led to the foundation for their successful years in the past. The vice-versa is also true. It is their bowling that has pushed them into the rut of five consecutive defeats.
Since bundling out Bangalore for 67 all out, they have conceded over 175 in each of the subsequent five matches, all of them resulting in a loss. Barring Bhuvneshwar Kumar, all their other pacers have gone at an economy in excess of 9.9 runs per over. Meanwhile, only Umran Malik averages under 25. And he has been wicketless in three games.
Considering the last five games of all sides, Hyderabad’s tally of 19 wickets is the lowest. They also have the worst economy (9.6) and bowling average (50.7) in this time period.
At the auction, Hyderabad invested all their bowling budget in the pacers. They only picked three spinners, two of whom are nowhere close to an international cap. It may have hindered them in the second phase of the tournament where the ball has gripped a lot more. At the same time, Washington Sundar’s injury didn’t help them.
Time for Kane to take the big decision
For a captain to drop himself is never a straightforward decision but Kane Williamson’s form has been poor for far too long. He has started slowly every game without making up for it. Among openers who have scored over 100 runs in the powerplay, he has the lowest average (13.8) as well as the lowest strike rate (76.4). His overall strike rate in the tournament is also below 100.
Consequently, he is having a negative impact on Hyderabad’s fortunes at the start of the innings. Given they are mostly chasing in excess of 170, the pedestrian starts on tracks that are slowing down are putting excessive pressure on the side. With Glenn Phillips sitting in the dugout and the season on the line, probably it is time for that big call. In the two at Wankhede this season, the venue for this fixture, Williamson has scored 5 runs off eight balls, getting out twice.
Phillips can also come in for Shashank Singh if Hyderabad don’t field an overseas pacer but how useful will he be at number six?
The Contest
Hyderabad’s bowling vs Mumbai’s batting in the middle-overs
The middle-overs have been the Achilles heel of Mumbai’s batting efforts. Their openers haven’t carried on to make significant scores. Suryakumar Yadav is ruled out of the tournament now. Kieron Pollard didn't show up in his beast form. All this has left the 19-year-old Tilak Varma to carry the innings. The youngster has been exceptional but overreliance on one man has never served well in this two-month long competition.
But how will that weakness fare against Hyderabad? The Orange Army have the worst bowling average (38.1) and strike rate (27) during the middle-overs this season. This is sort of a David versus David contest.
Probable XIs
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai named the medium-pacer Akash Madhwal as the injury replacement for Surya. However, an unchanged XI might be their mantra for this match.
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Tristan Stubbs, Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Daniel Sams, Kumar Kartikeya, Riley Meredith, Jasprit Bumrah.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
As said above, Hyderabad can ponder over a couple of combinations. Given their loyalty towards Williamson, it might be the latter.
Kane Williamson (c), Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shashank Singh/Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen/Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, T Natarajan
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Date & Time: May 17, 07:30 PM IST