In the eighth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will square off against record-five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad tonight, i.e., Wednesday, March 27, at 7:30 PM IST.
SRH’s performance against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were pretty impressive. They were chasing a monstrous 209, had fallen to 111/4 after 14, and needed 60 in the final four overs. Heinrich Klaasen and Shahbaz Ahmed revived the hopes, bringing the score down to 7 off 5 before Harshit Rana carried out the brave act. Coming back home now, the side will be fully fresh and up for another exciting contest. The unit, under the leadership of Pat Cummins, is doing quite well and if they click, the side is sure to go long in the tournament. While the lower middle-order batters played exceptional knocks, the openers also did a decent job in the last game. The only thing SRH might focus on improving tonight is their batter’s strike rate and death bowling.
It’s not new for MI fans to see their team losing in the opening contests, with 12 such setbacks since 2013. Nonetheless, the team performed admirably against Gujarat Titans (GT) and remained in the game till the last ball. As a result, their defeat to GT would have hurt them just as much as SRH’s loss to KKR. With 48 remaining off the last six overs in a chase of 169, MI were comfortably getting there before the Titans threw them a jolt, finishing with 162/9. However, the key players have performed well in their last outing. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Piyush Chawla did well, and surely we are bound to see Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan in top gear in upcoming fixtures. Namam Dhir was another find for MI and a lot would rely on him if the top order collapses.
Head-to-Head:
In a head-to-head meeting, MI have an advantage over SRH. Mumbai and Hyderabad played 20 games, with Mumbai winning 11 and Hyderabad winning nine. Notably, in their last meeting, which took place last season, MI won the match by 14 runs.
Where-to-Watch:
TV: Star Sports Network
OTT: JioCinema