IPL 2023, SRH vs MI preview: Sunrisers eye hat-trick of victories

Sunrisers Hyderabad are back on track with back-to-back wins and look to record a hat-trick of victories

Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad, whose campaign was off to an insipid start with two losses, were back on track with back-to-back wins and look to record a hat-trick of victories when they host Mumbai Indians at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

After losing to Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants, largely due to poor batting, the Sunrisers team hit the stride defeating Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous two outings.

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The Sunrisers batting unit, which always looked sorted on the paper, finally got into the groove. Their big buy Harry Brook – who was bought for Rs 13.5 cr in auctions, finally showed his potential slamming the season’s first century – in 55 balls – against Kolkata Knight Riders while opening the innings.

Rahul Tripathy too hit the full throttle in the match against Punjab Kings with a fine half-century and captain Aiden Markram was at his best anchoring the innings in their both victories. Abhishek Sharma too played a handy knock against KKR that proved crucial in the end.

The only worrying factor for the hosts is the form of Mayank Agarwal who failed to come to the party. However, given his calibre, he is due for a big innings.

On the bowling front, the inclusion of Mayank Markande gave them a potent look. He picked up six wickets in two matches with an impressive economy of 5.25. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marco Jansen gave good starts with the new ball. However, the speed merchant Umran Malik, who picked up five wickets, leaked runs heavily.

On the other hand, Mumbai too are high on confidence after recording back-to-back victories. Like Sunrisers, Mumbai too had a similar campaign. They started off with two losses but the five-time champions found their mojo in the next two.

Ishan Kishan provided a dazzling start with captain Rohit Sharma against KKR and the duo look to continue their aggressive approach. Suryakumar Yadav’s return to form is a welcome relief for the Mumbai side. After a string of poor performances, he hit 25-ball 43 in their win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

His form is crucial for their fortunes in the long run. With Tilak Varma, the Hyderabad batter, showing his maturity and the presence of hard-hitting batters Tim David and Cameron Green in good nick, Mumbai batting can tear apart any opposition.

However, their bowling unit doesn’t inspire much confidence. While their veteran bowler Piyush Chawla has been delivering goods consistently, others failed to give him any support. Their pace attack, in the absence of injured Jofra Archer, is being led by Jason Behrendorff and Riley Meredith. Left-arm pacer Arjun Tendulkar was handed the debut cap against KKR, but the unit was unimpressive so far.

On the whole, with the Mumbai batting line-up filled with big hitters and Sunrisers finding their groove, another close encounter is set to entertain the Hyderabad crowd on Tuesday. However, on the eve of the match, the city witnessed surprise evening showers hampering the hosts’ preparations. Considering that it is a full house, the organisers hope the rain doesn’t play a spoilsport.