A struggling Mumbai Indians will be up against a threatening Sunrisers Hyderabad in match 55 of the Indian Premier League 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. (Preview)
The last time these two teams met, we saw a six-fest in Hyderabad with SRH scoring the then highest IPL total of 277 and MI falling short by 31 runs.
With RCB stringing three back-to-back victories, Mumbai Indians have slipped to the bottom of the points table with just three wins in 11 matches. Nothing seems to be working for the side led by Hardik Pandya.
No one apart from Jasprit Bumrah had done much for MI's bowling but when the bowling finally worked against Kolkata Knight Riders in their last game, the batting let the team down. The tournament is about to end and MI are still searching for that one collective team performance.
SRH managed to win their last game against Rajasthan Royals by one run. It was an important win for the Pat Cummins-led side which now has 12 points in 10 matches. The arrival of Nitish Kumar Reddy has been a massive positive for the Hyderabad side.
T Natarajan's yorkers are landing well and Pat Cummins' bowling and leadership have both been good. A strong performance against a struggling side would take SRH closer to the play-offs.
Here are the three key battles that will decide the course of the MI vs SRH, IPL 2024 match.
Travis Head vs Jasprit Bumrah
Travis Head remains the biggest threat in the SRH batting lineup and Jasprit Bumrah is MI's best weapon to tackle this threat. The last time these two teams met, Bumrah did not take the new ball and experts questioned skipper Pandya's move. This time around, Pandya would not make the same mistake.
Will look to play out Bumrah, or will he just keep smashing him like any other bowler. Head's approach against Bumrah would make it an interesting battle.
Suryakumar Yadav vs Pat Cummins
Suryakumar Yadav and Pat Cummins had both good last outings. While Cummins was economical and took two key wickets in SRH's one run win over RR, Yadav's half-century could not take MI to victory.
Yadav is among the best T20 batters in the world right now and Cummins will have to take the responsibility of tackling the right-hander in his own hands. A nice back and forth will be expected when these two in-form superstars will take on each other on Monday.
Heinrich Klaasen vs Gerald Coetzee
While he has gone for plenty, Gerald Coetzee has also taken 14 wickets in the tournament so far. On his days, the pacer has trouble batters with extreme speeds. Will he be able to contain Klaasen with his pace. The batter has shown he is not troubled by any kind of bowling and can smash sixes on will.
MI would hope Coetzee comes out as a winner in this battle otherwise Klaasen will ensure MI's misery continues in the season.
