Refreshed Mumbai look to regain place in top four

Sunday, May 8, 2016
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)

Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad have had a few similarities in IPL 2016. Both were slow starters: Sunrisers lost their first two games, while Mumbai had just a solitary win after four matches. Both captains - Rohit Sharma and David Warner - have led by example. Both sides are also riding a wave of momentum - Mumbai have won their last three matches and Sunrisers are on a two-match winning streak - which should make Sunday's clash an interesting one.

With all their matches at Wankhede, their traditional home, completed, Mumbai now move to Visakhapatnam, their adopted home, for the remainder of the season. Interestingly, while Mumbai will be the home team, Sunrisers would also bank on the familiarity factor, having played three of their home games at the ACA-VDCA Stadium last year.

Rohit has held Mumbai's batting together, which has allowed Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler to exhibit their big-hitting skills. They have also been bolstered by Ambati Rayudu's form at No. 3. They have been most dangerous with the ball, with Mitchell McClenaghan being the leader of the pack, while Tim Southee, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya have all contributed at vital times.

Sunrisers Hyderabad are fresh off a five-wicket win against Gujarat Lions. It was a match won by the bowlers and they need a repeat of that performance against a powerful Mumbai line-up. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has shown signs of rediscovering his bowling mojo and can exploit the conditions to stifle Mumbai if the pitch offers assistance. Rohit's form against Ashish Nehra's experience, and Mustafizur Rahman's shrewdness against the explosiveness of Pollard and Buttler could make for interesting subplots.

With five wins each after nine and eight games respectively, Mumbai and Sunrisers are delicately placed. A win will give Sunrisers some breathing space on the table, while Mumbai have a chance to re-enter the top four.

Mumbai Indians WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Sunrisers Hyderabad WWLWW

Mitchell McClenaghan has been among the wickets almost every time he has been thrown the ball. McClenaghan's strikes have ensured Mumbai haven't missed Lasith Malinga. The New Zealand pacer is the joint-highest wicket-taker with Andre Russell (13).

Yuvraj Singh's Sunrisers debut was a disappointment as he managed just 5 off 14 balls. Warner has been doing the heavy lifting and Shikhar Dhawan, though he's found form, hasn't been as explosive. Yuvraj has sporadically shown that he still has the ability to hit the big ones. He's returning from a lengthy injury lay-off, and will be under pressure to get going immediately.

Mumbai look settled. Given the importance of a win, a change looks unlikely. They are keeping their options open, though, as both Buttler and Parthiv Patel kept wickets during practice.

Mumbai Indians (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel, 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 Jos Buttler, 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan

After their brilliant win over Lions, Sunrisers have little reason to chop and change.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable) 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Moises Henriques, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Naman Ojha (wk), 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Barinder Sran, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

This will be the first match of IPL 2016 at the ACA-VDCA Stadium. Of the three matches played here in the previous edition, the team batting first won two of them, with the average first-innings score of 156. The weather is mostly expected to be sunny with temperatures hitting 34 degrees centigrade, although there is a possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Humidity could be a factor too.