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Mumbai Indians' last chance to redeem themselves in the desert
Languishing at the bottom of the table, defending champions Mumbai Indians will be desperate to end their losing streak in their final match of the first leg of the IPL in the UAE when they lock horns with another struggling outfit, Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Dubai, on Wednesday.
This is Mumbai Indians' last chance to redeem themselves in the seventh edition of the cash-rich event before the action shifts to India.
Placed last in the eight-team league after losing all four they played so far, the title holders will not get a better chance of opening their account than against lowly Sunrisers, who are just a shade better with only a win and three losses.
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Mumbai batting has come a cropper
Mumbai batting has come a cropper. Despite some big names in their ranks, they have managed just a few good knocks. The likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Mike Hussey, Corey Anderson and Kieron Pollard have failed to fire in unison.
Ambati Rayadu has shown glimpses of his talent, but none were match-winning efforts.
Come Wednesday, Mumbai will need all these hard-hitting batsmen to contribute if they want to end their drought in the desert.
As far as the bowling is concerned, Indian veterans Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh will need to bring in all their experience to effect a turnaround.
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Finch, Warner shine for Sunrisers
Although mercurial speedster Lasith Malinga has been both economical as well as amongst the wickets, he has fallen short of his ability to run through a batting line-up.
Mumbai will require their bowling spearhead to rise to the occasion.
Besides, the team will also expect Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan's spin partner, Corey Anderson and Kieron Pollard to fire as an unit.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have seen just two of their batsmen, Aaron Finch and David Warner, make a mark in the tournament.
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Hyderabad's bowlers haven't done too badly
While the team will bank heavily on Finch and Warner yet again, it is high time that skipper and opener Shikhar Dhawan demonstrates his batting prowess.
The middle-order, with the likes of Lokesh Rahul, Y Venugopal Rao and Darren Sammy, also need to play key roles.
Their bowlers haven't done too badly till now.
Bowling spearhead Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been pretty consistent, while leg-spinners Amit Mishra and Karn Sharma were also decent.
But the bowlers will need their batsmen to put up substantial runs on the board so that they have something to defend against one of the better batting line-ups in the IPL.