IPL 2018 MI vs SRH: 5 player battles to look forward to 

Both teams are coming off heartbreaking losses in their previous games and the urgency to get their IPL campaigns back on track will see a fierce contest tonight at Mumbai. The defending champions Mumbai Indians are in a strange position. They are 7th in the table, having lost 4 out of 5 but in many of those games, they were in the game till the last over. The could easily have won 3 of the 4 games they lost.

On the other hand, the visitors Sunrisers Hyderabad started off like an express train, winning 3 out of 3 but lost their last two games. Yet they are 4th in the table and maybe, their situation is not as desperate. The game will be shaped by some of the engrossing individual battles that are going to unfold tonight and here is a look at 5 of those. 

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#5 Mayank Markande v Kane Williamson

The battle between these two is going to be one of the many intriguing subtexts in tonight’s game between MI and SRH. The SRH captain has been in fine form throughout the tournament and in his last game, he showed that he could match the six-hitting prowess of the famous power-hitters in the game as well. Williamson is averaging 57.40 and his strike rate has also risen to 131.42.

On the other hand, there is the young leg-spinner Mayank Markande, who picked up the wickets of 4 of the top 5 SRH batsmen the last time these two teams met. Williamson only faced one delivery from Markande that time before being dismissed shortly after. However, he is now in fine nick and this is a battle that will have a huge bearing on the SRH batting effort. Markande is MI’s top wicket-taker with 8 wickets and he would like nothing more than adding the SRH captain to his scalps. 

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