Jasprit Bumrah and David Warner.
After over six weeks of drama, the on-going IPL 2020 is all set to roll out the final league-stage game at Sharjah on Tuesday. SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), vying for a top-four finish, will lock horns with defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 56 of the tournament. While SRH are set to come out all guns blazing to seal a playoffs berth, MI are probably aiming to test their bench strength, having already achieved the qualification.
Warner's men need nothing but a win to stay afloat in the contest to lift the trophy this year. SRH, with six victories in 13 games, are currently sitting on the fifth position in the points table.
Thumping MI will squeeze them on the fourth spot in place of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The biggest advantage for the Hyderabad side will be their healthy net run-rate of +0.555. They'll put forth as much effort as they can muster against a dominant MI side.
SRH have outclassed Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their previous two games. Led by Wriddhiman Saha at the top, SRH's batting unit will be aiming to put up a daunting total at Sharjah.
Their bowling unit, comprising the likes of Jason Holder, Sandeep Sharma, T.Natarajan and Rashid Khan, has also been impressive this year. All eyes will be on Rashid to produce a match-winning spell in this crucial do-or-die fixture for SRH.
Mumbai, on the other side, are expected to come up with a tweaked line-up to test their squad. Regardless of the outcome of this match, MI's position in the points table will be unchanged. Having won nine games out of 13, MI are currently sitting on the top of the pile with 18 points and are looking favourites to clinch their fifth IPL title this season.
They thumped RCB and DC in their previous encounters, becoming the first team to book playoffs spot. Rohit Sharma's return is still hazy but the Ishan Kishan-Quinton de Kock pair will hope to sail MI's ship in Rohit's absence. The defending champions also have Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah to provide them with vital breakthroughs.
Head to Head: Both the franchises have defeated each other once on the UAE soil. In the previous MI-SRH clash at Sharjah, Rohit's men had emerged victorious to establish an 8-7 lead in the head-to-head record.
Crucial stats:
- SRH skipper David Warner has been exceptional in encounters against MI. He has scored 403 runs in SRH-MI fixtures. In this season, he has scored 444 runs in 13 matches at an average of 37.
- Currently second in the Purple Cap race, Jasprit Bumrah has dismissed 12 SRH batsmen in his IPL career. In this season, he has scalped 23 wickets in 13 matches including a four-wicket haul.
- Kieron Pollard has delivered with the bat against SRH, having scored 342 runs against the Orange Army.
- Manish Pandey holds the ability to turn the tide in SRH's favour through his batting exploits. He has scored 380 runs in 13 matches this season.
- Ishan Kishan has been superb at the top in absence of Rohit Sharma. The southpaw has scored 395 in 10 innings at a strike-rate of 143.63.
- Rashid Khan's performance with the ball will be the key for SRH. The spin wizard has scalped 18 wickets in 13 matches including a brilliant 3/7 against Delhi Capitals (DC).
- Wriddhiman Saha needs 79 runs to complete 2000 IPL runs while Warner requires 56 runs to cross the 500-run mark in the ongoing edition.
- Quinton de Kock stands 82 runs short of completing 500 runs in the on-going IPL season.
