Sunrisers set for scorcher
The Sunrisers have never lost at home this IPL. On the other hand, all three of Mumbai Indians’ defeats so far have been away. It’s against this background that Wednesday’s mid-table clash between the two teams becomes interesting.
Having lost two consecutive matches on the road — to Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals — the Sunrisers would look to keep their unbeaten home record intact when they take on muscular Mumbai at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
The Eagles began their campaign on an impressive note but have stuttered along the way. However, they are just below the Mumbai Indians, in fifth place on the points table with just two points separating the teams. To be within the cut for the playoffs should be a huge incentive when they set out for battle under scorching sun here.
Fatigue is a factor. Mumbai have had to eke out a last-ball win late on Monday night at home before dashing to the city on Tuesday. The exhaustion was evident as they had an optional practice session on match eve. Having played their previous game four days ago, the Sunrisers have had better recovery time compared to their rivals.
With newly-appointed captain Rohit Sharma leading them to three consecutive wins, the Mumbai outfit will most likely be unchanged, which would mean Ricky Ponting won’t get off the bench. But there are interesting sub-plots in the contest — speed demon Dale Steyn vs Sachin Tendulkar; yorker specialist Lasith Malinga against his Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara; Dwayne Smith and Kieron Pollard trying to counter their West Indian skipper Darren Sammy add excitement to the match.
The hosts need to bolster their batting big time though. With the top order scores resembling a telephone number in the last game against Rajasthan Royals before rearguard action from Sammy took them to a decent total, the team management would be prompted to make some changes in that segment.
The bowling looks strong as usual with Steyn and Ishant Sharma attacking in tandem before Sammy and leg-spinner Amit Mishra turn in. But to contain a marauding Mumbai line-up will be quite a task.
Coming to the local talent, G.H. Vihari, Akshath Reddy and Ashish Reddy have kept the Hyderabad flag flying so far and one hopes they will continue to do so.
It will also be interesting to see where the crowd loyalties lie since Mumbai has quite a few players with a Hyderabad connection. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Rohit Sharma and Dwayne Smith, who have been part of the Hyderabad franchise earlier. Then, there are Hyderabad players Ambati Rayudu and Pragyan Ojha, who have quite a following here. Mumbai also boast of Sachin Tendulkar, who is adored at every ground in India. That’s a win-win situation for the spectators.