CHENNAI: Two teams high on confidence will lock horns in the Indian Premier League on Sunday when Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Mumbai Indians.
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium will play host to some of the biggest hitters of the IPL and a run-fest could be on the cards. What makes it more exciting is that both teams come into the game on the back of morale-boosting victories. While Mumbai eased past Kings XI Punjab with an all-round display, David Warner led Sunrisers managed to win their last two matches to get their campaign up and running after a stuttering start.
Both teams are on four points after four matches but Mumbai are placed above Hyderabad thanks to better run rate.
With the match being held at Sharjah, and with the short boundaries coming into play, it will be a game for the batsmen of both teams to look forward to. Pollard who was the man of the match against Kings XI Punjab for his 20-ball 47 said after the game that the batsmen might have to rein in their urge to try and hit every ball for six. But when the likes of Pollard, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will be turning out for Mumbai and David Warner and Jonny Bairstow will be in action for Hyderbad, sixes and fours are expected to flow.
A closer look at both team's batting would suggest that Mumbai have a more balanced unit and they can exploit the conditions better. While Quinton de Kock is yet to find his form, Rohit Sharma was brilliant against Punjab. Hardik and Pollard showed the kind of damage that they can do at any ground and were instrumental in helping Mumbai post 191 in the previous match. They plundered 89 runs from the last five overs against Punjab, and like Pollard said after that game, sky is the limit for them when their batsmen are on song.
On the other side, when you have Warner and Bairstow in your arsenal, Hyderabad can be a confident unit. They rank among the best opening partnerships in the IPL and can hit a fair distance themselves. However, their last two matches have been relatively low-scoring affairs. They successfully defended 162 against Delhi Capitals and 164 against Chennai Super Kings.
A lot of credit goes to their bowlers for that and the rest of the batting order will have to provide support to Bairstow and Warner who cannot be expected to do all the scoring themselves. The presence of Kane Williamson in the middle gives them good depth and the fact that youngsters Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma stepped up when the team was under pressure shows that this team has strong characters.
While the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Rashid Khan will be crucial with the ball for their teams, the focus will be on their batting counterparts.
Sunrisers would be sweating over the fitness of Bhuvneshwar Kumar who had gone off the field against CSK without completing his quota of overs.
Sidharth Kaul could come in for Bhuvneshwar in case he remains unavailable but the game will be decided by who can score the maximum number of runs and outscore the opponents.