Will the 300-run barrier be finally broken at the Wankhede Stadium when Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Mumbai Indians on Thursday?

A total of 300 seemed for the taking after the Sunrisers raced to 286/6 in their first attempt in IPL 2025, versus Rajasthan Royals. It prompted Dale Steyn, their bowling coach till the last season, to predict on social media: “small prediction. April 17 we’ll see the first 300 in IPL. Who knows, I might even be there to see it happen.”

Last year’s runners-up had since gone into a shell, losing four matches on the trot, before Abhishek Sharma’s 141 off 55 balls against Punjab Kings helped them return
to winning ways. That has fuelled hopes of the explosive Sunrisers’ top-order firing on all cylinders.

“It’s cricket. I will not stick my neck out. You must have noticed last night. Even 100 (111) could be defended,” said Naman Dhir of Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.

Given the nature of the pitch, the smaller boundaries and explosive batters on both sides, there will clearly be a run-fest on Thursday night.

“One win can catapult you up the team standings and then you can get on the roll and there’s trust within the playing group that both teams are very good sides and can win on their day,” said Sunrisers’ head coach Daniel Vettori.

Mumbai Indians too have found their winning momentum in their last match on Sunday after Karn Sharma spun them to victory against Delhi Capitals in the middle overs.

While Jasprit Bumrah will be a key factor in the contest, much attention will also be on how Rohit Sharma fares on his home turf. Rohit has not survived the Powerplay in each of the five innings so far. If Rohit gets going at the top, things will be easier for Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma.