MI vs SRH IPL 2018 Match 23 preview: Struggling Mumbai take on confident Sunrisers at Wankhede

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) visit the home of the Mumbai Indians (MI) for match 23 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Tuesday.

Catch all the live updates from today's game here. 

After starting the season with three wins in a row, SRH have faced back to back losses, first against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and then losing a last ball thriller against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Mumbai Indians on the other hand, have made a characteristic sluggish start to their IPL campaign winning just one out of their opening five fixtures. However, all of Mumbai’s four losses have come in the last over of the game with their latest defeat coming against the Rajasthan Royals.

Mumbai will he hoping for a repeat of their IPL 2015 performance when they went on to win the IPL after similarly losing four of their opening five fixtures.

Match Details:

Timing – 8 pm

Venue – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Where to watch – Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD

Head to Head: Out of the 11 times that these two teams have faced off against each other, SRH have a slight edge having emerged winners on 6 occasions. However, SRH haven’t been able to beat Mumbai at the Wankhede even once, losing all three games played there.

Team news:

Bhuvneshwar Kumar who did not travel with the team, will miss this fixtures for SRH as he is rested. Sandeep Sharma is expected to replace him in the line-up. Shikhar Dhawan’s fitness has also been a concern as he picked up a nasty knock against KXIP, he is however expected to start as is Yusuf Pathan who struggled with cramps in the previous game against CSK.

Mumbai will be expected to stick with the same starting 11 that took the field against Rajasthan in Jaipur.

Prediction: Who will win?

With Bhuvneshwar Kumar out and Rashid Khan going for big runs in his previous two outings the MI batsmen will be looking to post a big total on the scoreboard tonight. SRH battling line-up has been struggling to cope against bigger totals with over reliance on Dhawan and captain Williamson as the middle order hasn’t chipped in with the big runs yet. MI should win this one if they put on a disciplined bowling display.

Stadium Pitch Report: The Wankhede pitch has been known to assist the pacers with a fair amount of swing early in the game. However, as the game progresses the even bounce and dew factor make this a hugely batting friendly pitch to play on.

Moneycontrol Dream 11: W Saha (Wk), K Williamson, R Sharma, K Pollard, S Yadav, S Hasan, H Pandya, K Pandya, S Sharma, R Khan and J Bumrah.

Players to watch out

Kane Williamson (SRH) – With the middle order failing to deliver, skipper Kane Williamson has stepped up on all previous occasions and helped his team post decent scores on the board. Having crossed the 50 run mark in his last three innings, we should expect another explosive performance from the Kiwi.

Suryakumar Yadav (MI) – Being asked to open the innings for the MI has faired well for Yadav as he has made scores of 53, 0 and 72 in his three innings at the top of the order. MI will be hoping he is able to strike a good partnership with Evin Lewis and give them another quick start to their innings.

IPL points table

With just one win in their previous five outings Mumbai are seventh on the points table, tied on points with bottom placed Delhi. Sunrisers are fourth on the table with three wins from their opening five fixtures.

Check out the updated points table along with Orange and Purple cap holders list here.