The first game in Sunday's (May 21) double-header will see the Mumbai Indians (MI) take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 69th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The much-awaited encounter will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Hyderabad, who have already been eliminated from the tournament, will enter the game on the back of a loss against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their previous game.
After being put to bat first, SRH suffered a double blow as Michael Bracewell (2/13) dismissed Abhishek Sharma (11) and Rahul Tripathi (15) in the fifth over.
In-form SRH batter Heinrich Klaasen smashed 104 off 51 balls to help his team recover from 28/2 to post a competitive 186/5. RCB pacer Harshal Patel (1/37) got past the defense to end the Proteas batter's fantastic innings.
In reply, RCB needed a strong start by their openers and that's what Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis delivered. In a crunch tie, the RCB duo took the game to SRH and added a phenomenal opening stand of 172 runs.
Kohli, in particular, stole the show with his authoritative batting and exhibited a superb display of surreal timing and class. The senior Indian batter slammed 100 runs from just 63 balls and helped his team win the encounter by eight wickets.
Faf du Plessis also continued his rich vein of form and contributed with a well-made 71 off 47. Kohli and du Plessis got dismissed, but by then, the match was already in the bag for RCB before Michael Bracewell hit the winning runs with four balls to spare.
MI's scorecard from their last IPL 2023 game vs LSG
Similar to the SRH, Mumbai Indians also lost their last fixture, which was against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
After being put to bat first in front of their home support, LSG were rocked early when they lost three wickets for 35 by the start of the seventh over.
Jason Behrendorff took two of those wickets, while Piyush Chawla bagged the wicket of Quinton de Kock.
However, Marcus Stoinis and Krunal Pandya then steadied the ship for LSG. Stoinis' 89-run knock took the team's total to 177/3. Pandya also played his part with a well-made 49 before he retired hurt.
MI were cruising at one point in their run chase with Ishan Kishan (59) and Rohit Sharma (37) adding 90 runs for the opening wicket. However, LSG then clawed their way back into the game by inflicting crucial blows at regular junctures.
MI needed just 86 runs off the last 10 overs, but couldn't finish the job. Suryakumar Yadav was out for just seven and Nehal Wadhera struggled for his 20-ball 16, while impact player Vishnu Vinod holed out for just two.
Ravi Bishnoi was impressive as well with his two-wicket haul but the two youngsters in Yash Thakur and Mohsin Khan choked MI batters in the death overs.
Mohsin Khan defended 11 runs off the last over as the hosts recorded a much-needed victory in their last home game of the season.
Mumbai would look to put their last loss behind them and come out with a positive intent against SRH on Sunday.
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