The Met Department has issued a heat wave warning for Mumbai this week. And with a high-voltage clash featuring some of the game’s hardest hitters, Thursday night at Wankhede promises to be just as intense as the sweltering day.
Besides their red-hot batting units, the Mumbai Indians and the Sunrisers Hyderabad have a lot in common. Both outfits banked heavily on retaining the core despite a complete overhaul ahead of the season. Both had a torrid run at the start of the season before registering morale-boosting wins in their previous outing.
Sunrisers will be hoping for Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head to continue their mojo they rediscovered in Hyderabad against Punjab Kings over the weekend. Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, will hope for their underperforming top-order to relieve the pressure on the middle and lower order.
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While the focus will be on Jasprit Bumrah’s duel against ‘Trav-ishek’, SRH will be hoping for another left-hander to fire. And the pocket dynamo, Ishan Kishan, at No. 3 will be desperate to make a case against this former team.
Kishan did not bat during Saturday’s nets, but he knows the conditions at Wankhede more than anyone else in the SRH camp. Having been let go by MI in the big auction, he will be desperate to repeat his heroics in the season-opener.
But the left-handed trio at the top will be wary of Bumrah, a wounded tiger after the beating he took from Karun Nair in New Delhi. Bumrah was at his miserly best on his comeback game last week at the Wankhede and MI will hope for him to get back into a wicket-taking streak.
While captain Hardik Pandya’s form as a finisher will be key, along with Naman Dhir, the home fans will be hoping Suryakumar Yadav can repeat his exploits from last year, when he scored a hundred against the same opposition.