3 player battles to watch out for in MI vs SRH, Match 69 of IPL 2023

The Mumbai Indians (MI) have a massive job on their hands as they host the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for their final home game of the season at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, May 21.

With three teams already qualified, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals are still in the race for that final playoff spot. After a heartbreaking defeat against the Lucknow Super Giants, MI don't have destiny in their own hands. However, they still need to beat SRH and then hope that RCB don't win against the Gujarat Titans.

While Mumbai will be keen to end the league stage on a high, SRH know they can spoil the party of the five-time IPL champions. Aiden Markram and Co. have had a torrid season and they would want to give some joy to their fans by finishing with a win.

On that note, let's take a look at the three interesting match-ups that could possibly decide the flow of the game:

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#3 Suryakumar Yadav vs T Natarajan

Suryakumar Yadav had a rare failure in his previous game and that proved to be a big blow for Mumbai. It just shows how crucial he is to his team's chances of doing well in each game and he will be the key player once again for the hosts.

Having scored a hundred in the last game that he played at the Wankhede, SKY will be brimming with confidence. However, he has scored just five runs in 11 balls faced against SRH's left-arm pacer T Natarajan. Although Suryakumar Yadav hasn't been dismissed by Natarajan, the numbers suggest that it could be quite an interesting match-up.

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#2 Rohit Sharma vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma hasn't had the best of seasons in the IPL with the bat. He has often gotten off to good starts but has failed to convert them into big scores. The hosts need their captain to step up in a must-win game and particularly take the powerplay by storm.

Rohit has a decent record against SRH's veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, scoring 70 runs from 53 balls faced in T20s. However, Bhuvneshwar has also dismissed him once and this match-up seems to be nicely poised at the moment going into the game.

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#1 Heinrich Klaasen vs Piyush Chawla

Arguably the biggest threat for Mumbai Indians will be in-form SRH wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen. The South African star is coming on the back of an incredible century and will likely love batting on the Wankhede pitch.

Arguably one of the best overseas players of spin, Klaasen has a positive match-up against wrist-spinner Piyush Chawla. He took him apart the last time these two teams met and has scored 36 runs off just 12 balls from the leg-spinner.

However, Chawla will be well aware of the fact that he had dismissed Klaasen last time and that will be a confidence booster for the veteran spinner. How Mumbai stop Klaasen from scoring could go a long way in deciding their playoff hopes.