It’s time to reckon with Sunrisers Hyderabad where they can’t let things slip any further. After five consecutive victories, the Kane Williamson-led side has lost five in a row in the Indian Premier League. The team, which had scored 10 points in the first seven matches and finished at the top of the table, managed to cut their playoff chances very low with their terrific performance with the bat.
Captain Kane Williamson’s form is the main reason for his rollercoaster performance in IPL 2022. Williamson has not only damaged his reputation by scoring just 208 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 92.85 but has also affected SRH’s pace with the bat.
IPL 2022: Full Coverage
Coming into the game against Mumbai Indians, the Hyderabad-based franchise will be hoping to change their style of play and get rid of the conservative approach employed by Williamson in the powerplay overs. With Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran present in the line-up, SRH can also hope to switch up the batting a bit and play Williamson at number three or four where he can take advantage of the gap in the field.
The results of this match will have a further impact on the league table. Franchises like Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings are hopeful of Mumbai Indians coming out victorious today so that they put less pressure in the middle of the table. If SRH wins, three of these teams will be tied with 12 points from 13 matches, calling into question the net run rate for playoff qualification.
Having said that Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants are in the best position to take the last two spots in the playoffs but Lucknow’s current form leaves them vulnerable.
form guide
SRH
l, l, l, l
Mi
W, L, W, W
key players
Abhishek Sharma (SRH): Sunrisers Hyderabad’s highest run-scorer of the tournament, Abhishek Sharma is looking to end the season on a high. The youngster from Punjab has already scored 374 runs and will look to break the 400-run barrier in the last two matches.
Tim David (MI): If Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma get upset by Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s deceit or Washington Sundar’s length, things will once again fall on the Singapore-Australian batsman to save his team.
Probable playing XI
Mumbai Indians
Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Tilak Verma, Tristan Stubbs, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Hrithik Shokeen, Ramandeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Riley Meredith, Kumar Karthikeya Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (c), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Karthik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, T Natarajan