Deadline: May 2, 2019 at 8 PM IST
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Pitch, scores, and conditions
The team batting second has won three of the five games at Wankhede Stadium this season. The nature of the track does not change, but the dew gets heavier as the match progresses. The humid conditions make matters worse for the bowlers and thus the average first and second innings scores read as high as 188 and 173 respectively. Expect runs to come in abundance on Thursday night.
Probable XI for Mumbai: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Keiron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Barinder Sran, Rahul Chahar, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah
Probable XI for Hyderabad: Martin Guptill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson (c), Mohammad Nabi, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma
Cricket Australia (CA) had asked their players to leave by May 1. Guptill will replace David Warner.
Fantasy team
We have opted for a fantasy cricket team on the basis of players’ impact, recent performances, and credit points.
Note that you can, now, change your team after the toss. You can also check players’ performances in the last 5 matches. Tap on the players’ names to get the data while making your fantasy team.
My XI: Quinton de Kock (c & wk), Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey (vc), Martin Guptill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Nabi, Lasith Malinga, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Chahar, Rashid Khan
Points table
Hyderabad have a better net run rate than Mumbai, and if they emerge victorious, they will dethrone Mumbai from the third spot. However, if Mumbai win, they will move up to the second spot.
Previous encounter
Alzarri Joseph registered the best bowling figures the last time Mumbai and Hyderabad squared off. He took 6 for 12, skittling out Hyderabad for a mere 96 runs in a chase of 137.
Before the Caribbean took centre stage, Rashid had dropped Pollard when he was new to the crease. As fate would have it, Pollard went on to score 46* off 26.
Hyderabad without Warner, Bairstow
Warner, the highest run-scorer, has headed back home. Jonny Bairstow had already left a week ago. Both did bulk of the scoring for Hyderabad, for the better part of the tournament. A number of dynamics will change in their absence. We may see Guptill and Saha open the innings. While it will be the first match of the season for Guptill, Saha will play his second. The onus will be on these two to continue what Warner and Bairstow had started.
Performance guide
Resting Pandey, after a string of bad performances, has reaped rewards for Hyderabad. Ever since his comeback into the playing XI, he has smashed as many as 180 runs in as few as 3 matches. A lot will depend on him in the absence of star players.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) have not yet announced the date of departure for their players. De Kock, whose 393 runs are the most for Mumbai, will play for at least a week more.
Rohit may not be at his mightiest, but his fighting fifty – his only fifty this season – against Chennai won Mumbai a crucial game. In all he has managed 307 runs at an average of 27.9 in 11 matches.
Rashid’s three-wicket haul against Punjab pushed him in the list of top 10 wicket-takers of the season. He has trapped 14 batters in his leg-spin, in 12 matches. For Mumbai, Bumrah has taken 13 wickets in as many matches.
Also get to know the tips & tricks on how to play fantasy cricket.