Big picture
Okay, let's get this straight. Bowling isn't really Sunrisers Hyderabad's major worry. Yes, they have conceded runs at an economy rate of 8.74, which is the second-most. But it is not too much if you see that the best team has an economy rate of 8.09.
That Sunrisers are still in contention for the playoffs - after five straight losses following five straight wins - is purely down to their batting from Nos. 3 to 6. Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran have been the key players at those positions and Sunrisers average 35.5 per dismissal for those spots combined, the best among the teams in IPL 2022.
Kane Williamson's run at the top of the order has been quite a forgettable one; his batting average of 18.9 this season is only better than Rohit Sharma's 18.2 among captains. Moreover, his strike rate of 92.9 is the fifth-worst by any player to have batted in ten innings in an IPL season.
With Abhishek Sharma being the leading run-getter for Sunrisers this season, it is perhaps time for Williamson to move down the order with either Glenn Phillips, who can bat anywhere in the top five, or Tripathi to take his spot at the top in order to maximise the powerplay. After all, Sunrisers have to win both their remaining matches in order to keep their hopes of a top-four finish alive.
For Mumbai Indians, though, it is all about continuing to check out how their players do at different spots with an eye on the next season, something they have already started. Very little of Tristan Stubbs could be seen against Chennai Super Kings and they could continue to back him in the middle order, while young Tilak Varma continues to impress. While Mumbai are playing for pride, stopping another team from qualifying could be enough motivation to bring out their A-game.
In the news
Medium-pacer Akash Madhwal has joined Mumbai Indians as a replacement for the injured Suryakumar Yadav.
Likely XIs
Mumbai Indians: 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Tim David, 6 Daniel Sams, 7 Hrithik Shokeen, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Riley Meredith, 11 Kumar Kartikeya Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Shashank Singh/Glenn Phillips, 8 Marco Jansen/Kartik Tyagi, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T Natarajan
Strategy punt
Both Rohit and Ishan Kishan strike at 90 or lower against Washington Sundar. As a result, it could pay for Sunrisers to bring the offspinner in early.
Jasprit Bumrah has dismissed Kane Williamson once in ten T20 innings and Nicholas Pooran twice in three innings. That is perhaps a case for holding Bumrah back for the second half of the innings
Stats that matter
Sunrisers have won only one of their nine matches at the Wankhede Stadium, where Mumbai have a win percentage of 62.3
Mumbai have conceded 94 sixes, while Sunrisers have conceded 92, which are the second and the third most by a team this season. These two are in the bottom four in terms of hitting sixes
