Sunrisers look to increase MI woes
MUMBAI: Four last-over defeats for Mumbai Indians have left them hurting and it is turning out to be a frustrating season for the defending champions as they have failed to find the finishing touch.
They have less than 48 hours to recover from the heartbreaking loss to Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, and it will be a test of their resilience as they look to buck the trend against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Facing Sunrisers is bound to open up a few old wounds. Like Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers had inflicted a similar blow by snatching a last-ball win in Hyderabad in their first-leg clash around 12 days ago.
Mumbai’s problem of losing close matches is graver than it appears as the culprits are established players. On Sunday, Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan had set up the perfect platform for Mumbai Indians final assault, but skipper Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard all flopped.
On 129/1 after 14 overs and with Rohit, Pollard and the Pandya brothers to follow, 200 was definitely on the cards. But to restrict Mumbai to 167 was job half done for Rajasthan. Mumbai lost six wickets for 39 runs scoring at 6.5 runs per over in the last
six overs and that is where they lost the plot.
Sunrisers bowling is tipped to ask more questions than Rajasthan did. Even though Mumbai are back home at the Wankhede Stadium, in Siddarth Kaul, Billy Stanlake, Rashid Khan and Shakib Al Hasan, Sunrisers have the arsenal to test any batting.
Sunrisers’ will miss spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar due to injury, informed skipper Kane Williamson. Bhuvneshwar was not able to complete his full quota of overs in Sunday’s game due to back spasms and has not travelled with the team. Adding to the injury update, the skipper said Shikhar Dhawan’s return to the side depended on the fitness test conducted on Monday.