Sunrisers Hyderabad have suffered two consecutive losses in their 2021 IPL campaign and could very well go down 3-0 as their next match on April 17 is against the defending champions, the Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai Indians narrowly lost their first game in IPL 2021 but bounced back to win their second IPL game and now sit in the number two spot on the IPL table. A convincing win over SRH, could push the defending champs to the top of the table.
Bet365 has Mumbai Indians as the favorites to win against SRH. Mumbai Indians have odds of 1.61 while SRH are the underdogs at 2.30. If you are looking to bet on this IPL game, you can do so at any of the following sportsbooks below.
Our experts breakdown this game and share their predictions as to who they think will win.
SRH – Keys To Victory
SRH has struggled so far in the IPL because they have not clicked as a batting unit. The team management might think of sticking with the same playing XI and giving them another chance to click as a batting unit. However, our experts believe that SRH could end up with their third loss in a row, if they don’t make changes to their side.
The experiment to open with W Saha at the top of the order is not working and SRH need to look elsewhere. SRH have the option to either bring Jason Roy into the side to open with captain David Warner or promote Jonny Bairstow up the order.
If they bring in Jason Roy, they will have to leave out Jason Holder. If they are keen on playing Holder as an all-rounder, then they have to promote J Bairstow and strengthen the middle-order by bringing in K Jadhav to bat at four.
Given the fact that their batting has been a problem, we would go with J Roy, D Warner, M Pandey, J Bairstow, K Jadhav, A Samad, V Shankar, R Khan, B Kumar, S Nadeem and T Natarajan.
This line-up gives the top and middle-order a lot more depth and still doesn’t do too much damage to the bowling as K Jadhav and V Shankar can split four overs between them. J Bairstow will have to take up the wicket-keeping role in the absence of W Saha.
MI – Keys To Victory
The Mumbai Indians look as strong as ever as their all-round strength allows them to bounce back even if they have a failure in their batting or bowling departments. In their last game against KKR, Mumbai Indians had a good start at the top of the order but suffered a middle order collapse.
However, they have a world-class bowling line-up and their bowlers bailed them out as they restricted KKR even though they had a low score on the board and secured a win.
Mumbai Indians will want to use their game against SRH to address the chinks in their batting line-up and notch up a big score. The push to get better with every game means the Mumbai Indians will not be taking SRH lightly on April 17.
Verdict
Our experts agree with the bookmakers on this game and believe that the Mumbai Indians will win their game against SRH. The best chance for SRH to win is if one of their top players like David Warner or Jonny Bairstow plays a match winning knock.
However, that’s not going to be an easy feat especially with a strong Mumbai Indians bowling line-up. If SRH decide to make changes to their batting line-up as we suggested, they have a much better chance of winning. For now, our money is on the Mumbai Indians.
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