Hyderabad and Mumbai will face each other in the Saturday encounter of the Indian T20 League 2021. Both sides appeared in low-scoring thrillers in their previous games. Mumbai had the final laugh, while Hyderabad suffered a 6 runs loss.
Match Timings: April 17, 7:30 PM IST
Team Preview
Defending champions will continue their Chennai leg fixtures in Indian T20 League when they face Hyderabad tonight. Hyderabad cannot afford a loss here after back-to-back defeats and one more loss can trouble their goals for playoffs. In this journey of 14 games, Warner would hate three losses in the starting of the season. Hyderabad’s calls on the ground were surprising as they won the toss twice but backed themselves for the chase. In the opening game, the target was huge but they fought hard to cross the line but in the second game against Bangalore, Hyderabad collapsed badly after Warner got out. From 96/1, Hyderabad lost the next eight wickets in the margin of 46 runs. The game was in Hyderabad’s control but no one took responsibility till the end. Manish Pandey’s poor strike rate also made a difference and he has to take his role seriously.
Hyderabad can finally pick Kane Williamson in middle-order. On a challenging track like Chennai, Kane will be a good player to carry the middle-order. The shot selection was also poor from middle-order batsmen. Hyderabad had the same story in 2020 but they managed to catch the rhythm after two defeats. Any other change is unlikely to happen. Holder should retain his place. Hyderabad have the compact side and they just need good execution.
Meanwhile, Mumbai are boosted after pulling off a comeback against Kolkata in a low-scoring game. Rohit Sharma's smart captaincy was the highlight of the previous game. Mumbai now have one win and one loss from two games. Defending champions would also look for some improvement in their middle-order. In both games, they failed to deliver. In the opening game, they lost their last 7 wickets on 56, and in the second game, they lost last 7 in the margin of 37 runs. Suryakumar Yadav scored a fine half-century and someone has to play like this. A defensive approach may hurt any side in Chennai. Captains have to change their decision on the toss. Chasing in Chennai is a tricky call and only one win came on the final ball. Mumbai can include one extra spinner in place of any pacer. Rahul Chahar is effective but he needs support. It’s not easy to predict the winner as both sides have the capability to deal on Chennai’s track.
Pitch Report
Chennai’s surface is a decent T20 surface and it will test batsmen in both innings. Batting would be easier in first half but it will be tricky while chasing. We may expect a score of 150 which is a competitive total.
Possible XI
Hyderabad
Wriddhiman Saha (wk), David Warner (c), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Shahbaz Nadeem
Mumbai
Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Key Players
Hyderabad
David Warner
Scored 50 in last game, great average in Indian T20 League
Rashid Khan
Dangerous spinner in Chennai, a match-winner with both bat and ball
Mumbai
Suryakumar Yadav
A promising player for Chennai, 56 off 36 in the last game
Rahul Chahar
4-wicket haul in last game, effective in Chepauk
