IPL Betting: Sunrisers Hyderabad v Mumbai Indians

Back big hitting Dwayne Smith to top score for Mumbai

Wednesday's opening game is a mid-table clash between Hyderabad, who are on a losing streak, and a resurgent Mumbai Indians. Richard O'Hagan has all of the news

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Mumbai Indians
Wednesday 1 May 2013 at 11:30 BST
Live on ITV4 and itv.com

Sunrisers Hyderabad

The hosts have lost some of their momentum as two consecutive defeats have dropped them down the table to a position a win behind the play-off places. This is the first of three consecutive home games and they'll need to win all of them to stay in contention. To do that, their batsmen will need to find some form, especially after being reduced to 29-6 in their last game against Rajasthan on Sunday. All-rounder Thisara Perera is their top run scorer with a meagre 144 and no batsman has scored more than 63 in an innings. Captain Kumar Sangakkara dropped himself for a few games and it may be no coincidence that he returned to the side for those two defeats. The problem, though, is that his replacement, South African Quinton de Kock, managed to score even fewer runs (just six from three innings). With no batsman in form they will again rely heavily upon their bowling attack. Spinner Amit Mishra has 14 wickets already (good enough for fifth in the overall table) whilst Perera, Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma are also into double figures. Expect no changes to that part of the lineup, but the bowlers - as shown in that eight wicket defeat on Sunday - can do little if the batsmen can't put the runs on the board.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai's recent form has been the opposite of Hyderabad's, with three wins representing an upturn in their fortunes after a slump saw them tumble down the table. Again, the captaincy has been a significant factor in this, Ricky Ponting's decision to drop himself has left an overseas space for West Indian Dwayne Smith, who has scored 146 runs in those three matches, whilst new captain Rohit Sharma has also thrived, picking up 122 runs of his own. Sachin Tendulkar continues to disappoint, averaging just 17.44, but there is little prospect of him being dropped in what is widely expected to be his farewell season. With the ball, two much-maligned bowlers have shored up a sometimes shaky attack, but you do wonder how long Mitchell Johnson and Harbhajan Singh can keep that up for, especially with overseas stars such as Lasith Malinga (once the most feared bowler in this form of the game) and Kieron Pollard providing little support.

Venue and Conditions

There may be a little rain around the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at the start of play, but this should swiftly disappear, leaving a clear, dry, evening with temperatures in the high 30s. This is only the fourth game that has been played there this year and in none of the three previous matches has a side scored more than 130 in the first innings.

Match Odds

Hyderabad have won all of their home games this season. Two of those wins were over strugglers Pune and Punjab, whilst the other was a surprise Super Over win over Bangalore.  It is a reflection of how the two sides have played recently that the market has Hyderabad second favourites at 1.625/8 with Mumbai favoured at 1.564/7. It is hard to ignore that winning home record, so back Hyderabad for a narrow victory.

Top Hyderabad Batsman

There are two problems with backing an actual batsman in this Hyderabad team. The first is that none of them are in much form. The second is that the obvious candidate, Shikar Dhawan will not only be playing just his third game in almost two months, but will be at very short odds. Whilst it is unlikely that there will be the sort of upper order collapse that derailed them on Sunday, why not back their top runscorer, Perera, to top score at odds of 8.07/1.

Top Mumbai Batsman

Sharma's fine form makes him a short odds favourite in this market, whilst the odds on Tendulkar are never that good no matter how poor his form. Smith, though, is still a surprisingly generous 4.57/2 and his free-hitting style could come off on this slow scoring ground.

Recommended Bet:

Back Dwayne Smith at 4.57/2 to top score for Mumbai Indians.