Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will lock horns with Mumbai Indians (MI) in the final match of the league stages of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 in Hyderabad on Sunday.
This is a must-win situation for both the sides. Whoever wins this match will make it to the playoff stages, which begins from Tuesday. The rain gods can spoil Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers's party as they lag behind on net run rate, which will propel Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the playoff stages as they have a better net run rate than both these sides.
Let's have a look at some of the key battles from this high-voltage encounter:
David Warner vs Lasith Malinga: Warner has been leading the men in orange from the front. He has set an example with his bat at the top of the order as he is the holder of the Purple Cap now. He has already amassed 556 runs in 13 innings and would look to add some more runs to his name. Malinga has to be in form in order to stop the run-flow when Warner will be batting on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma vs Moises Henriques: Rohit Sharma has been the hitman for Mumbai Indians and he has been instrumental for this dramatic turn-around of MI after a terrible start to the tournament. Henriques on the other hand has been superb both with the bat and the ball. His off-cutters are very deceptive and have earned him wickets throughout the IPL 2015. He would test Sharma with his slower bouncers.
Shikhar Dhawan vs Harbhajan Singh: Dhawan is an important asset to the Sunrisers as he has batted well in tandem with Warner at the top of the order. He has got the brisk starts, but failed to convert them into big innings. He is one of the better players of spin and his skill would be tested by Harbhajan, who would mix it up nicely to trouble this star Indian batsman.
Hardik Pandya vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Pandya has been brilliant this season as his quick-fire 20s and 30s have powered Mumbai Indians to a number of wins. His innings against KKR turned out to be a match-winning one, but he will have to pass the Bhuvneshwar test before he starts hitting the ball from the middle of his willow. Kumar has bowled the yorkers more consistently than any other Indian bowlers in this tournament.
