Mumbai Indians will square off against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium as we head into the second double-header day in the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on Sunday.

MI started their campaign with a loss against Chennai Super Kings. But bounced back in style, beating Kolkata Knight Riders in their second game. While they came tantalisingly close to sealing a stunning win in their third game, Royal Challengers Bangalore beat MI in a Super Over. MI, though, registered a comprehensive win against Kings XI Punjab to return to winning ways.

Meanwhile, SRh come into this game on the back of two successive wins and will be keen to complete a hat-trick of wins. While SRH lost their first two games - against RCB and KKR, they defeated Delhi Capitals and CSK on the bounce to add four points to their account.

The most prominent reason for Mumbai Indians' early resurgence this year has been the form of Kieren Pollard. For the second consecutive match, Kieren Pollard helped his side fetch over 80 runs in the last five overs and that turned out to be game-changing on both occasions. Mumbai Indians have had a fair share of problems to deal with, but the fact that they have come out ahead more often than not speaks volumes about their approach to the game. Quinton de Kock's form at the top might be the cause of concern, but given the surface of Sharjah, we expect Mumbai Indians to persist with him.

There's hardly any team in the tournament that possess as much power in the middle-order as Mumbai Indians. Pollard and Pandya brothers are not only the heavy strikers of the cricket ball but also score pretty consistently. Besides, with James Pattinson to follow the trio, Mumbai Indians have the fire-power available right down till number eight.

If Mumbai Indians do not look intimidating with the bat, their bowling will certainly make them look so. With Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, they have two of the world's best bowlers available to pick wickets, be it at the beginning or at the death. James Pattinson is another speedster who has been brilliant in the tournament so far. Although their spin department looks a bit inexperienced, the likes of Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar do not let them feel so.

Given the team Mumbai Indians have on paper, it would not be wrong to say that they have perhaps the most well-balanced side in the tournament. The only issue for them has so far been inconsistency at the top of the order and the surface at Sharjah might help them to get that in order.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have always been known for their terrific bowling attack and the way they have managed to defend two matches in a row shows why. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, and T Natarajan were brilliant in the powerplay as Sunrisers picked up three important wickets inside the first six overs. Despite having only four mainstream bowlers at his disposal, David Warner never appeared to be perturbed as he rotated his bowlers perfectly. After a man of the match performance against DC, Rashid Khan once again proved his worth for a side as he returned with incredible numbers of 4-12-0 against CSK.

Injury to Bhuvneshwar Kumar is certainly going to be a cause of concern for the Sunrisers, but as per the early scenes, we do not expect Bhuvneshwar Kumar to be a part of the upcoming contest, leaving Sunrisers' death bowling in complete shambles. Even though Natarajan and Khaleel have done well, the experience or lack thereof could be a factor against the potent lower middle-order of Mumbai Indians.

The surface at Sharjah should help Sunrisers' top-order, which hasn't looked in good touch since the last few matches. Hitting sixes shouldn't be as difficult as it was at Abu Dhabi and Dubai and that might be a trigger enough for Warner and Bairstow to gather some momentum. Although their youngsters proved that they can be trusted upon in crunch situations, it would be interesting to see how they perform when the opportunity presents itself again.

The Sunrisers undoubtedly have a few concerns to address in their upcoming match and the most prominent of those will be to find Bhuvneshwar's replacement, if he is unavailable. Apart from that, the performance of their top-order will also be under the scanner. While the likes of Bairstow, Pandey, and Warner have all looked in decent form, none of them have yet managed a big score.

Weather Conditions
The weather in Sharjah for this day game will be close to 38 degrees with a humidity of 55 percent. The extreme heat could make it difficult for the players to adjust.

Pitch Report
The wickets in Sharjah are flat and with the boundaries small as compared to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, batsmen will have a field day when it comes to run-scoring. The pitch at Sharjah isn't going to offer much to the bowlers. Spinners and pacers will find it very difficult to contain the runs on this placid deck.

Toss Prediction
With no dew to assist, the surface could get a tad slow towards the end, making hitting through the line difficult. Considering those factors, we expect the team winning the toss to bat first and put a total of at least 210 runs on the board.

Head-to-Head and Stats:
Head to head: Matches Played: 14
Mumbai Indians: 7
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 7

Approaching Milestones
Suryakumar Yadav needs 2 sixes to complete 50 sixes in IPL.
Rohit Sharma needs 102 runs to complete 4000 IPL runs.
Manish Pandey requires 40 runs to complete 3000 IPL runs.
Kane Williamson needs 6 sixes to complete 50 IPL sixes.
This will be Trent Boult's 100th T20 match. For Warner, it will be his 50th time captaining the Sunrisers in the IPL.

Likely XIs:
Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (capt), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (capt), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan

Players to Watch Out For:
Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan

Match Odds:
Mumbai Indians: 1.6 Sunrisers Hyderabad: 2.2

SantaBanta's Winner Prediction: Mumbai Indians

IPL 2020 Winner Live Odds:
Mumbai Indians - 4.5
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 5
Delhi Capitals - 5
Kolkata Knight Riders - 7.5
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 8.5
Rajasthan Royals - 10
Chennai Super Kings - 10
Kings XI Punjab - 15

Match Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium - Sharjah, UAE
Time: 3.30 PM IST
TV: Star Sports Network.
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar VIP