Cricket Indian Premier League Prediction

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians - Match Preview

🏏 18 April 2023 - 18:00 GMT +0

Only Delhi Capitals separates Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians from the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) points tally, but that’s only half the story. The winner of match #25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad moves into a group of teams on six points each which adds extra incentive for both teams.

Not that the Sunrisers need any more motivation after winning back-to-back matches! Their 23-run victory over Kolkata on Friday saw their latest import Harry Brook show his worth to the competition with a sparkling hundred where he managed his strengths and balanced his weaknesses beautifully. His SR of 15.23rpo more than made up for his struggles against spin which saw him strike at 7.03.

The focus on batting improvements shouldn’t take away the limelight from how Mayank Markande has stepped up in his first two matches of the season (six wickets at 5.25rpo). As he comes up against his former employers, Markande will be keen to keep that product and make it a third-straight team-leading bowling performance. His effectiveness could once again be crucial to complement Marco Jansen’s increasing role with the ball (four wickets, ER 7.57rpo).

It will be a family affair for this match as Marco could probably come up against his twin Duan Jansen, although Duan’s debut figures of 4-0-53-1 didn’t inspire confidence. He was spared the blushes thanks to a scintillating powerplay performance with the bat as Mumbai notched up 72/1 – their fifth-highest ever in the competition during the first six overs and also the fourth-highest of IPL 2023 until Sunday.

Even ‘Impact Player’ Rohit Sharma found some value in his shots making a third consecutive 20+ score, but those still are not in line with his stature in this competition. He could probably once again sit out of the fielding captaincy duties leaving the decision of handling Jofra Archer’s absence (or potential presence) with Suryakumar Yadav. Whoever is the captain, the uptick in Piyush Chawla’s form (five wickets, ER 6.25rpo) is going to be a shot in the arm.

⚡ Players to watch: Rahul Tripathi scored a match-winning unbeaten 74* (48 balls) when he last played at this venue against Punjab. He won’t mind playing Mumbai as his last two H2Hs yielded 74* (42 balls) and 76 (44 balls), aggregating 17 sixes. Looking to steal his thunder could be the local boy, Tilak Varma, who returns to the venue where he plays first-class cricket for Hyderabad. He carries rich form to this game in this competition, having scored at least 30 in eight of his last 14 matches.

📋 Stat attack: Only Rashid Khan (5.75rpo) has a better economy rate than Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6.43) against Mumbai Indians, while only Darren Bravo (18.22) had a better average than Bhuvi (18.63).

• He may want to steer clear of Rohit Sharma though, owing to his poor H2H IPL record against Rohit (65/1 off 48 balls in 11 innings at 8.12rpo).
• Marco Jansen had four powerplay wickets in IPL 2023, conceding runs at 5.00rpo during that period.
• A wrist spinner returned the Sunrisers’ best bowling figures in their last three matches.
• Ishan Kishan strikes at 11.64rpo against Umran Malik in the IPL, scoring 33 runs off 17 balls (4x4 2x6) in two matches, but has been dismissed in both games.
• Mumbai lost nine of their last 11 matches when starting as the favourites.