IPL 2021: MI elect to bat; Manish Pandey leads SRH
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians are squaring off in the 55th match of IPL 2021. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium is hosting the encounter, which is being held concurrently with the RCB-DC match. MI require a colossal victory in order to enter the playoffs. Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to bat. Notably, Manish Pandey is leading SRH in place of Kane Williamson.
Mumbai Indians have fared slightly better than SRH in the head-to-head encounters. In 17 matches, MI have managed to win nine with a win percentage of 52.94. Meanwhile, SRH have won eight (win percentage: 47.06). Since IPL 2019, MI have won four of the five matches against SRH. Notably, MI defeated SRH in the first match this season.
The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi is hosting the match. Although the wicket has been fruitful for the batters lately, scoring isn't easy here. Notably, the Orange Army defended 141 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous match on this venue. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on the Hotstar app (paid subscription).
Kolkata Knight Riders, on Thursday, secured an 86-run victory win over Rajasthan Royals to solidify their qualification chances. Besides, MI are all but out of the playoffs race. Mathematically, the defending champions can still qualify for the last four. They need to score more than 200 and win by 171 or more runs in order to go past KKR's Net Run Rate (+0.587).
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Abhishek Sharma, Manish Pandey (captain), Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Umran Malik, Siddarth Kaul Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Trent Boult
As stated, Pandey is leading SRH in place of Williamson. The latter is sitting out as he has a "niggle on his elbow". Pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar has also missed out due to a niggle. Meanwhile, Piyush Chawla is making his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians. The Indian leg-spinner has replaced Jayant Yadav. Besides, MI have recalled all-rounder Krunal Pandya.
