Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers face-off in must-win encounter (Preview)

The team that wins goes through

Hyderabad, May 16 (IANS) With an eye on the all important playoffs, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad have no other option but to go all out when the two sides clash in a do-or-die game in their last league stage Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Sunday.

Mumbai, after their narrow loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday, are now placed in fifth position with 14 points from 13 games, whereas Sunrisers, after being beaten by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday, are placed fourth with 14 points from 13 games. A win for either will ensure them a place in the playoffs while the losing side will be knocked out of the tournament.

The two teams earlier met in the first leg on April 25 in Mumbai where the home side had the last laugh. Opting to bat first, Mumbai posted a modest 157 runs. In reply, Sunrisers fell short by 20 runs with Mumbai pacer Lasith Malinga (4/23) being the star of the night.

Mumbai come into Sunday's game after a win in a nail-biting finish against KKR while Sunrisers lost to RCB via the Duckworth-Lewis method Friday night in a rain-hit 11 overs a side match.

Mumbai are in fine form, with all departments firing, after a sluggish start to the season. Their bowlers, be it pacers and spinners, all stepped up when it mattered most while their opening batsmen Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel have given the team good starts which helped the middle order capitalise and post big totals. With big-hitters skipper Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard, the middle order looks rock solid.

In the bowling department, the visitors will again rely on paceman Malinga to deliver for them.

On the other hand, Sunrisers as always will heavily depend on openers skipper David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan to give them a good start, followed by in-form Moises Henriques and Eoin Morgan in the middle order to finish the game for the side.

When it comes to their bowling, Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar and spinner Karn Sharma will aim to make it count after a so-called inconsistent season so far with the ball.

Head-to-head, Mumbai have won three while Hyderabad have clinched two of their last five encounters.

The squads:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Colin Munro, Aditya Tare, Jasprit Bumrah, Marchant de Lange, Pawan Suyal, Shreyas Gopal, Lendl Simmons, Pragyan Ojha, Mitchell McClenaghan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Aiden Blizzard, Akshay Wakhare, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Hardik Pandya, Jagadeesha Suchith, Unmukt Chand, Vinay Kumar, Parthiv Patel, Ben Hilfenhaus, Alex Hales.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Moises Henriques, Lokesh Rahul, Parvez Rasool, Naman Ojha, Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Chama Milind, Karn Sharma, Kane Williamson, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Bipul Sharma, Trent Boult, Praveen Kumar, Hanuma Vihari, Prasanth Padmanabhan, Siddarth Kaul.