Desperate MI eyes big win over SRH

MUMBAI: Five-time champion Mumbai Indians will be desperate for a victory by a big margin over wooden spooner Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Sunday, in what could also be its last outing in this year’s Indian Premier League.

While SRH is already ruled out of the race to the playoffs, Mumbai Indians, which has one last chance left, will be keen to make the most of its excellent show here at the Wankhede Stadium this season so far, and bolster its chances of qualification.

With four wins and two defeats, MI has certainly taken full advantage of its home ground, something that Rohit Sharma’s men would want to continue as they also have the final opportunity to improve their Net Run Rate (NRR).

Unlike Rajasthan Royals which has finished the league round with 14 points and a superior NRR of 0.148, Mumbai Indians can go one better and end with 16 points, but it must also win big.

Royal Challengers Bangalore can be described as being in pole position since it has a better NRR of 0.180 than MI (-0.128) and RR.

RCB can also grab two vital points if it gets the better of Gujarat Titans, but more importantly, Faf du Plessis’ side would know what exactly is required of it since it plays the last game of the league round later on Sunday evening.

Mumbai Indians’ chances will get stronger if it wins and RCB loses, whereas if they both win their respective games on Sunday, the NRR will come into play. Needless to say, a loss would shut the doors on MI’s chances.

The race to the IPL playoffs has perhaps been the most intense this year, with the last two days of the league round determining as many as three out of the four playoffs spots.

It will be imperative for the Rohit-led side to not squander opportunities like it did in the last two games, allowing Gujarat Titans to reduce the margin of defeat drastically while losing to Lucknow Super Giants by five runs and missing out on two points, which at this stage, would have kept MI above both RCB and RR.

MI’s biggest concern, on its home ground, has been its bowling which conceded four totals on the trot in excess of 200 and nearly a fifth against RCB, which has left its batters under severe pressure.

On several occasions, MI has allowed games to drift away from its control with poor bowling at the death and the team’s coaching staff and think tank will be pushed to the hilt to get better results this time around.

Despite Rohit blowing hot and cold, MI’s batting has pulled off difficult tasks with ease and the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Cameron Green, Ishan Kishan and Nehal Wadhera will be expected to go all guns blazing against SRH’s bowlers.