Watch cricket video highlights between Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad. Indian Premier League 2024 fifty fifth match, played at Wankhede.
The Wankhede is typically known for its huge scores and towering run chases, but the most recent match between MI and KKR had a distinct flavor thanks to the players’ development as spinners. While Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy recorded identical figures of 4-0-22-2 for KKR, Chawla took 1 for 15 in three overs. It is unclear if this was an isolated incident or a sign of wearing pitches in the second part of the season.
SRH’s hitting lineup is fantastic when things click for them. Vulnerabilities arise, nevertheless, when the top order fails to align. On paper, SRH has more than enough batting depth to avoid being undone by a few early wickets, but in practice, that depth isn’t always translated into runs. This season, it has been most noticeable in run-chases. Maybe they just need Abdul Samad, a hitter with tremendous promise but maddening limitations, to add more depth to his game. Samad is usually an ideal end-overs finisher when batting first, but his technique isn’t always appropriate for scenarios when you need to shift gears to counter different bowling types.
This is shown in his record, as he has averaged 34.66 and struck out at 236.36 while batting first this season, while his chase averages are 14.66 and 125.71. His IPL career has also followed a similar pattern: when batting first, he has averaged 32.22 and 164.77, but when chasing, those figures fall to 14.88 and 133.15. Similar conclusions can be drawn from his bowling statistics, which show that during his IPL career, he has averaged 23.94 and hit at 174.49 against speed and 16.00 and 94.11 against spin.
In his first six IPL 2024 matches, Rohit Sharma amassed 261 runs with a strike rate of 167.31 and an average of 52.20. Since then, he has only managed to score 65 runs in five innings, falling four times to left-arm speed and only reaching 11 once. How will he respond to an SRH onslaught that may include Unadkat, T Natarajan, and Jansen—three left-arm quicks? In their most recent match, SRH made a big move by starting bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen instead of the struggling Aiden Markram. At the Wankhede, they’re probably going to stick with that foreign lineup, with Jaydev Unadkat, Umran Malik, or Mayank Markande being their last bowling choice, depending on the circumstances.
Due to a back spasm, MI had to deploy their former captain, Rohit Sharma, as their Impact Player during their most recent match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Both on Saturday and Sunday, Rohit batted in the nets without displaying any signs of pain, and during the press conference on Sunday, Naman Dhir declared that Rohit was “fit and fine.” If he is fit again, he ought to go back into the starting lineup. MI may want to reevaluate their decision to use just two foreign players. With Rohit set to come off the bench as an almost obligatory impact substitute, they felt that it was a waste not to start either big-hitting Romario Shepherd or part-timer Mohammad Nabi, whose offspin could have been very helpful on a pitch where Dhir ended up bowling three overs.
It was this particular match that made IPL 2024 what it is today. Just three 200-plus totals in 14 innings, with a peak of 208, had been recorded in the first seven games of the season, which had been, well, typical. Subsequently, SRH lifted the bar for everyone, reaching an IPL record total of 277 for 3, with a crash, bang, and wallop. As MI reached the halfway mark of their chase at a rate faster than their initial necessary rate, it appeared for a time that the record would only last a few hours. However, SRH’s bowlers held on through the second half of the match to secure a 31-run victory. In any case, the record would not stand for very long since, 19 days later, SRH destroyed it.
The Mumbai Indians (MI) will either be all but eliminated from the IPL 2024 playoff race by Monday morning. The best they can probably expect for going into their final three league games is to move up from the bottom of the standings, finish in the middle of the pack, and have a clear idea of who they should keep and who they should let go of before the big 2025 auction. Their opponents on Monday night, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), will be much more competitive. following their trip to Mumbai, they have three home games to close up the league phase and are in a good position to finish in the top four.
They are now ranked fourth following Sunday’s activity. They may not be looking so safe now, recovering from three straight losses, if the final ball of their most recent game—a one-run triumph over Rajasthan Royals—had gone any other way. Seasonal outcomes can be determined by such outcomes. With how close the playoff race is right now, it feels especially true. With four games remaining, SRH will try to exert as much control as possible and hope that enough of the 50/50 situations work in their favor to keep them close to the top of the playoff standings.
