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Wolves are amongst the Premier League sides interested in signing Ryan Kent from Rangers this summer.

That’s according to 90min, who claim that the West Midlands outfit, as well as Leeds United, Everton and newly-promoted Fulham, are interested in signing the 25-year-old.

Having gone through the youth ranks at Liverpool, former Reds youth coach Steven Gerrard lured the winger to Glasgow when taking on the Rangers job and the Englishman has been a kingpin for the Scottish juggernaut ever since.

In 171 appearances for Rangers, Kent has scored 30 goals and registered 47 assists with three goals and 19 assists coming this season with Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side reaching both the Europa League and Scottish Cup finals.

Although the goal tally is shy, the creativity that the £12.6m-rated winger provides is an asset that Wolves must gain this summer, with Bruno Lage’s men enduring a woeful campaign in front of goal.

In the Portuguese manager’s first season in England, the Wanderers have managed to score just 35 goals in 35 Premier League matches, with only Burnley and relegated sides, Watford and Norwich, scoring fewer.

The likes of Adama Traore, Francisco Trincao and Fabio Silva have all struggled to make an impact in the final third, particularly the latter who has failed to score a single goal this season despite being bought for £35.6m two summers ago.

Therefore, the West Midlands outfit must find a solution to improve in attack with Lage undoubtedly keen to push on from what’s been a solid first campaign in England.

Labelled as “unplayable” by journalist Andrew Dickson, Kent has been subject to Premier League interest for numerous transfer windows and it feels as though this summer could finally be the moment where the Englishman returns to his homeland to compete in the English top flight.

Also lauded as a “match-winner” who has “everything in his locker” and capable of providing “something special” by former teammate Kyle Lafferty, Wolves should certainly prioritise signing Kent this summer.

AND in other news: Huge boost: Wolves handed massive injury lifeline, it could help secure Europe

Tottenham Hotspur ‘insider’ John Wenham has been left exciting by some promising Lilywhites transfer news involving a ‘monster’ defender.

The Lowdown: Paratici set for big summer?

Spurs transfer chief Fabio Paratici is reportedly facing a big summer window with manager Antonio Conte allegedly demanding as many as six major signings behind-the-scenes (The Telegraph).

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The Italian sporting director, as a result, has his finger in many pots and is also working on sealing deals for potential stars of the future.

Middlesbrough ace Djed Spence and Peterborough United defender Ronnie Edwards are just a few examples of lower league talent on the radar at Tottenham with a promising update recently coming to light on Blackburn centre-half Ashley Phillips.

As reported by The Sun’s reliable source Alan Nixon, the Lilywhites are ’emerging as favourites’ to sign the England youth international as they enter pole position.

Nixon also claims that the Premier League top-four chasers are ‘ready to get the deal done as quickly as possible’.

The Latest: Wenham excited…

Speaking to Football Insider, Wenham has been left excited by the development, imploring the north Londoners to reach an agreement ‘ASAP’ – also branding Phillips a ‘monster’ defender.

He explained: “I looked into him, he’s a monster. He seems to have the assets and all the physique you want in a centre-half.

“For me, that is no risk, high reward. Get that done as soon as possible. We have a really good relationship with Blackburn.

“We sold them Dilan Markanday in January. To get one over on Chelsea and Man United would be fantastic as well as him looking like a top young talent.

“The update from Alan Nixon is really positive as I rate him highly, he really knows his stuff about the EFL and lower leagues.

“Hopefully we can get this one done ASAP.”

The Verdict: Great news…

Highly-rated by those within Blackburn and beyond according to Nixon, the towering 6 foot 3 starlet looks to be heading to the top judging by verdicts like this one from Wenham.

Hotspur Way chiefs could apparently have to fork out £3 million to seal an agreement but Phillips’ sky high potential may well be worth investment.

His signing could also go some way to balancing Tottenham’s prevalent homegrown quota issue in the future and there is no surprise Paratici is eager to strike a fast agreement.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano says ‘monster’ Spurs player is now ‘expected to leave’! Find out more here.

Celtic brought an end to their title-winning 2021/22 Premiership season with an emphatic 6-0 victory over Motherwell in front of their home fans.

As well as it being a special day in terms of seeing the Hoops lift the league trophy after being crowned champions in midweek, it was also the day that Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton brought an end to their Parkhead careers.

On Friday, it was revealed that the duo will be leaving the club after spending nearly 10 years each in Glasgow.

Rogic started the match and ended up playing for 62 minutes, whereas Bitton came on as a late substitute for his final appearance in green and white.

However, it was another midfielder who took some of the shine away from the Australian in particular in terms of his performance today.

Having also played 62 minutes before being replaced by Yosuke Ideguchi, fellow Hoops midfielder David Turnbull was arguably Ange Postecoglou’s hero this afternoon.

With 71 touches of the ball, the 22-year-old not only scored Celtic’s second goal of the day but also completed 60 of the 61 passes he attempted. With those touches, the Scotsman made two key passes, one cross and four long passes, as per SofaScore.

In addition, the youngster completed the one dribble he attempted and won 75% of his duels, showing just how solid he was on and off the ball for his team.

This display ultimately earned the former Motherwell ace an impressive overall match rating of 7.9/10, which is comfortably higher than the 6/10 rating that Rogic earned from SofaScore.

Hailed as a “truly wonderful footballer” in the past by former Fir Park academy director Gordon Young, Turnbull certainly haunted his old club this afternoon and ended their season with a disheartening defeat.

Having ended his campaign with 10 goals and eight assists for the Hoops across all competitions, the 22-year-old has undeniably played a big part in Celtic’s title triumph this season, ranking as their best performer according to WhoScored when players who left in August are excluded.

Moving forward, Postecoglou will be now hoping that the midfielder can keep delivering this sort of performance for the Bhoys throughout next season on the domestic and European stages.

In other news: Big Lennoxtown claim emerges, it’s great news for Celtic supporters

Manchester City are set to welcome two new attacking stars to their ranks in the summer in the shape of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.

Back in January, City secured a five-and-a-half-year deal for the latter from Argentine club River Plate.

More recently, the Citizens announced they had struck a deal with Borussia Dortmund which would see Haaland make a move to the Etihad Stadium in July.

Now that the summer is approaching, it seems as though the Premier League champions could be looking to make a return to River Plate and potentially land another one of their young talents.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Record (via Sport Witness), City have their eyes on signing Alvarez’s team-mate Enzo Fernandez this summer.

A product of River’s youth system, the midfielder has gone on to make 44 senior appearances for the club, scoring 10 goals and providing nine assists along the way.

With 19 appearances under his belt across all competitions this term, the 21-year-old has found the net eight times and delivered six assists. This shows how dangerous an attacking player he can be from midfield.

Taking into account how the likes of Kevin De Bruyne (15), Ilkay Gundogan (six) and Bernardo Silva (eight) have scored a combined total of 29 goals between them in the league this season, having another attack-minded midfielder like Fernandez could be an ideal move for all parties.

Described by Robert Pires as a player who “always gives solutions to his teammates”, Fernandez could not only follow in the footsteps of his current team-mate Alvarez by joining City, he could also create a deadly attacking partnership with him in Manchester.

With the City-bound attacker scoring 44 goals and providing 29 assists in 112 appearances for River, should he find himself linking up with his fellow countryman once again next season, it could be a very beneficial option for Guardiola to have in his squad moving forward.

If they believe there is a need to add even more attacking power to their ranks this summer, securing a deal for Fernandez – who reportedly has a price tag of £20m – should definitely be in the thoughts of the City hierarchy.

In other news: Big Man City transfer development from sources close to the club will have Pep elated

Incisive burst delivers five wickets for allrounder before Derbyshire slump in the field

ECB Reporters' Network13-Sep-2021An incisive new-ball burst from Grant Stewart has put Kent firmly in charge of the LV=Insurance County Championship match against Derbyshire at Derby.The all-rounder ripped through Derbyshire’s top order to take 4 for 6 in nine overs and ended with 5 for 23 as the home side were bowled out for 156 with fast bowler Sam Conners scoring a career-best 39 off 28 balls.That gave Kent a lead of 129 and when bad light ended play early, they were 276 in front on 147 for 1 with Zak Crawley scoring his second fifty of the match and Jordan Cox an unbeaten 58.Derbyshire’s frail batting was again exposed by Stewart who exploited overcast conditions to take four of the first five wickets to fall.Leus du Plooy went to the second ball of the morning which he edged to third slip and Wayne Madsen was the next to go after taking 26 balls to get off the mark.He edged Nathan Gilchrist to third slip where Jack Leaning leapt to hold the second of four catches and although Billy Godleman and Matt Critchley briefly counter-attacked, the slide continued in Stewart’s second spell.The pair plundered five consecutive fours off Gilchrist and Jas Singh but Critchley was caught behind driving expansively at Stewart who then brought one back sharply to bowl Tom Wood.Derbyshire began the afternoon session just as badly with Brooke Guest lbw to the second ball from Harry Podmore and when Anuj Dal became Stewart’s fifth victim, Derbyshire were in danger of following-on.Billy Godleman fell to a breathtaking diving catch by Leaning at gully for an obdurate 31 off 109 balls but some uncomplicated blows by Conners and Ben Aitchison spared Derbyshire from being asked to bat again.Despite limping after turning an ankle, Conners struck four fours and two sixes before he swung Podmore to deep midwicket but it was the seventh time in 13 matches this season that Derbyshire had failed to register a batting point.With Conners unable to bowl, Kent built steadily against a depleted attack before Crawley was caught at mid off for 68 and they closed in a commanding position although rain could hold them up on day three.

Glamorgan lose last four wickets for 35 then struggle for inroads with the ball

ECB Reporters' Network13-Sep-2021Two superb catches by Glamorgan skipper Chris Cooke and two wickets in three balls by offspinner Andrew Salter stopped Gloucestershire from romping to a big second-day total in their LV= Insurance County Championship at Sophia Gardens.Cooke dived full length to take one catch with his left hand and then took another in similar fashion with his right to remove Miles Hammond and then Tom Lace off seamers Michael Hogan and David Lloyd. Responding to Glamorgan’s first innings total of 309 all out, Gloucestershire were going along very nicely until Cooke’s intervention. Skipper Chris Dent and Hammond had successfully negotiated 18 overs before Hammond’s nick brought their first wicket stand to an end at 63.Lace went with the score on 90 and that allowed Dent and Graeme van Buuren to wade into a home attack that lacked punch and length. They put on 96 for the third wicket, with Dent playing the anchor role until he attempted to inexplicably ramp Salter and was clean bowled.He left for 75, his fifth half-century of the season, with the score on 184 for 3. Two balls later, Ryan Higgins went back to another Salter delivery and was plum lbw to make it 184 for 4.van Buuren was the aggressor throughout and reached his 50 off 87 balls with his 10th four of the day. He was unbeaten on 65 when the players went off for bad light at 4.47pm, with Ben Wells, on his championship debut, contributing a very handy 25 to steer the visitors to 224 for 4, trailing by 85 runs.The Glamorgan seamers, other than Hogan, were expensive and rarely troubled Gloucestershire’s batters. Ruaidhri Smith was the most expensive, conceding 50 runs from his nine overs, while Timm van der Gugten went for 42 off 15. Salter was the pick of the home bowlers and ended with 2 for 47 from his 18 overs.Gloucestershire had struck early when play resumed, removing Salter with the third ball of the morning. He became David Payne’s second victim of the innings and the stubborn partnership between him and Eddie Byrom ended on 73. Smith lasted three overs before he became the seventh wicket to fall as Higgins picked up his second wicket and then Bryon played on to Payne to depart for 78. He hit 10 fours in an innings that lasted three-and-a-half hours.van der Gugten conjured up 14 runs before he was the last man out with Glamorgan having limped over the 300 run mark and ended on 309 all out.

The New Zealand captain been feeling discomfort while gripping the bat and extending the elbow but is pleased with the overall progress

Deivarayan Muthu14-Oct-2021New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has confirmed that his hamstring is fine but elbow might still need “a little bit of time” to get back to 100%. The elbow complaint has been a long-standing one for Williamson, forcing him to miss the ODI series at home against Bangladesh, the start of the first leg of IPL 2021 in India and the Edgbaston Test against England.After leading New Zealand to World Test Championship glory, Williamson continued to manage his elbow as he withdrew from the Hundred, where he was supposed to turn out for the Birmingham Phoenix.”The hamstring is minor, it’s progressing nicely, so not too many concerns and we’ve still got plenty of time,” Williamson said, speaking from New Zealand’s base in Dubai. “So, yeah, hopefully in the next sort of few days or so, I’m taking basically full part in the training. So, it’s all good.”The elbow – it has just been a bit of a slow-burner. Yeah, it has been quite frustrating for a long period of time. However, it has definitely improved a bit over the last two months I’ve had after the World Test Championship. On rehab, it has definitely seemed to move forward, which is refreshing, but still a little bit of time to get back to a 100 [%], but it’s definitely better.”Williamson explained that he has been feeling some discomfort while gripping the bat and extending the elbow, but was pleased with his overall rehab in months that followed the WTC final against India.”Basically just gripping and then extending,” Williamson said. “So, which you do a lot of obviously [while] batting and it has been frustrating certainly when it was at its worst. But the harder you grip and further you extend, the more it seems to be quite disruptive. Like I said there’s been a lot of improvement over the last three months, which is good. That has really been the focus and I’m at the stage where I’m largely about to get through with some comfort and it’s nice to be able to focus a bit more on the cricketing side of things rather than having constant negotiations with physios.”Williamson’s niggly elbow – and the fitness of the other players – will be put to test when New Zealand play their last four group-stage games in seven days across the three venues in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Three of those matches will have afternoon starts (2pm local time).Kane Williamson was the second-highest run getter for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the UAE leg of IPL 2021•BCCI

“Recovering will be a big part of that,” Williamson said. “The temperatures are getting a little bit better and being here nice and early – it allows the guys to acclimatise a little bit [to the conditions] and get a little bit more comfortable in these sorts of temperatures. Those day-offs after the game, especially when it’s as dense as that, will be really important so that guys can be back up and be as fresh as possible going into the following game.”Williamson has already had a taste of the slow, low UAE pitches, having been Sunrisers Hyderabad’s second-highest run getter in the second half of the tournament, behind Jason Roy, with 138 runs in six innings at an average of 27.60 and strike rate of 102.98. Williamson was wary of the conditions, reckoning they could change at the forthcoming World Cup.”They’ve varied a lot actually,” Williamson said. “Even a lot compared to what we experienced last summer when we had the whole tournament here [the UAE] and in previous years when we’ve played here as well. Something to be aware of; something certainly to prepare for and try and make those adjustments as quickly as possible and get comfortable with what realistic expectations are and what competitive totals are because it has not unfolded in that traditional T20 style at times.”But then we’ve had other days, in the IPL when we turned up to Abu Dhabi, the wicket looked very similar, but there was sort of an 80-run difference in what was perhaps a par total. It is really adjusting to what’s in front of you as quickly as possible and trusting in that judgement.”After the T20 World Cup in the UAE, New Zealand will tour India to launch their defence of the World Test Championship and three T20Is. Williamson urged New Zealand to focus on the job at hand – and their collective progress.”I mean there’s a lot of challenges in front of us,” he said. “I mean any tournament, any World Cup is always tough, particularly the T20 World Cup. There are match-winners in every team and anybody can truly beat anybody and for us, we want to continue the path of growth and improve as a side and make those adjustments. There are very little promises in this game, but we want to continue to get better as a side and hope that holds us in good stead. That’ll be our focus and that will be important for us in this tournament.”And then the focus will change, it will be on India and [we will] try and get a bit of clarity around what we might expect in some of those conditions, which can also vary quite a lot. Be nice and clear how we want to operate there. As a side, it’s always a challenge [when] you have a number of different world events, but ultimately in terms of the bigger picture, you want to keep evolving and moving forward as a team and that’s where you try and put your energy.”Williamson, and Mark Chapman also with a niggly hamstring, will sit out the warm-up match against Netherlands on Saturday as a precaution.

Mitchell Marsh hit 53 as Australia aced a chase of 158 – which eventually proved enough to put them in the semis

Sidharth Monga06-Nov-20211:10

Moody: If Australia make it, they will head into the semis with a lot of confidence

As the sun set on the T20 empire of West Indies, a team full of T20 greats, one all-time great in the opposition, David Warner, played a memorable knock to make a potentially tricky target look easy. That eventually proved to be enough to put Australia in the semi-finals, with South Africa not doing enough against England later in the night.* West Indies, already eliminated from the tournament, will now be asked to play the first round of the next World Cup to reach the Super 12s stage; only the top-eight teams in the rankings on November 15 will get automatic entry into the Super 12s, and West Indies and Sri Lanka don’t make it.It was a wistful day with Dwayne Bravo definitely and Chris Gayle possibly playing their last match for West Indies. It was also a reminder of passing time that Australia’s bowlers kept getting the better of them. Josh Hazlewood led with three wickets with almost Test-match-like bowling. It took hard work from Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell to take West Indies to 157.

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Warner responded with his highest World Cup score, 89* off 56 balls, while Mitchell Marsh lent an impressive hand with the bat to go with his tight bowling, scoring his first World Cup half-century. That they finished it off in the 17th over took their net run rate up to 1.216, leaving South Africa needing a 61-run win should they score 160 to deny Australia the semi-final spot.Fearless start, interrupted
West Indies with nothing to lose can be a scary proposition. Evin Lewis and Gayle gave them a taste of it, taking 19 runs in Hazlewood’s first over. A trademark six over long-on, never mind a short-of-a-length slower ball, off Pat Cummins followed, but Gayle ended up playing on the next ball. Out for 15 off 9 deliveries, he raised his bat as he walked off and was hugged by team-mates just across the rope.In the next over, Hazlewood made a comeback as he bashed a good length, drawing a slice to cover from Nicholas Pooran, and then dislodging the top of off, going past Roston Chase’s defence. Three wickets lost for five runs, and West Indies were now forced to rebuild at 35 for 3 in the fourth over.Middle-overs choke
With two left-hand batters in the middle, Glenn Maxwell got an over in before Marsh and Adam Zampa applied the choke hold. Marsh gave nothing away in terms of pace or room, while Zampa continued with his quick legbreaks and variations. With the fourth-wicket partnership reading 35 off 35 and time running out, Lewis had to take his risks, and the Zampa wrong ‘un was ready to collect the wicket in the tenth over.Hazlewood then came back in the 13th to bowl a mean bouncer at Shimron Hetmyer’s armpit, who just couldn’t get out of the day, making it 91 for 5.Pollard, Russell fight
Australia were spot on with their plans and execution against the West Indies batters, giving nothing away to Bravo, but Pollard and Russell showed flashes of what made them T20 greats. Pollard ended with 44 off 31, and Russell finished the innings with successive sixes, his first of the tournament, which gave them 48 off the last four overs, and some hope.Josh Hazlewood picked up four wickets•ICC via Getty

Hosein stifles openers
That hope looked like it might amount to something, as Akeal Hosein tied Australia up with his arm balls, getting Aaron Finch out bowled in his second over. His figures at the end of his two overs read 2-0-7-1.Warner attacks at the other end
At the other end, though, Warner kept attacking, hitting Chase and Jason Holder in the powerplay. When he finally managed to get the better of Hosein in the sixth over, Australia were well on their way at 53 for 1 in eight overs. Warner has had an underwhelming few months, with his IPL team moving on from him and a slow start for him at the World Cup. However, at the business end of the tournament, he finally seems to have found the timing back. He picked the balls to attack perfectly, and executed them just as well.Marsh supports
Once the powerplay ended, Australia needed runs to flow from each end, and Marsh did it for them. He began with a reverse-sweep off Hayden Walsh Jr, who had had a great series against Australia a few months back, and then added a six down the ground off Hosein. Once Marsh took six, four and four off Russell in the tenth over, Australia needed just a run a ball.A jovial end
The last two complete overs of the match went to Bravo and Gayle. Warner switch-hit Bravo for four before pulling him for six. Gayle then bowled with his hat and sunglasses on, indulging in banter with Warner. With possibly his last ball in international cricket, Gayle had Marsh caught at mid-off. He followed the returning Marsh and jumped on him for a hug from behind to celebrate the wicket. There were smiles and grins all around to mark much-celebrated careers.*

SRH crashed for the second time in two games, with their hard-hitting approach not coming off

Shashank Kishore30-Mar-2025Aniket Verma, 23, is all of three T20s old. On Sunday, he showed why Sunrisers Hyderabad have so much faith in him. While his team collapsed for the second time in two games in IPL 2025, with their hard-hitting approach not coming off, Aniket’s incredible 41-ball 74 lifted them to 163 after Mitchell Starc’s three-wicket burst in the powerplay derailed them.Aniket hit five fours and six sixes in his innings, twinning with Heinrich Klaasen during the course of a 77-run stand off just 40 balls, after SRH were in tatters at 37 for 4 in the fifth over.After Abhishek Sharma was run out in the first over, guilty of strolling through for a single he was late to respond to, Starc had Ishan Kishan slash to deep third, local boy Nitish Reddy heave an off-cutter to mid-on, and Travis Head ramp a short ball to KL Rahul, who had the gloves in his first game for Delhi Capitals, his new franchise.Head’s wicket was timely; he began with two back-to-back fours off Starc – driving imperiously through the line first and then drilling him down the ground. Starc responded by targeting his rib cage from around the stumps. Eventually, Starc, who was given a third straight over, had his man.Aniket began with dollops of luck. In the fourth over, he survived a run-out chance when Tristan Stubbs missed a direct hit at the striker’s end with the batter having given up. In the sixth, Aniket’s leading edge off Axar Patel was put down by Abishek Porel running back from extra cover.Aniket took full toll and hit Axar for back-to-back sixes in his second over to get going. At the other end, Klaasen’s clarity and picking of lengths led to more runs bleeding. He first whipped Starc for six, and when the bowler corrected his length, he slapped it through the off side for a boundary.Klaasen looked set when he was deceived by Mohit Sharma’s change of pace and length as he sliced a catch to Vipraj Nigam, who took it sensationally after circling back from point to leave SRH 114 for 5 in 10.5 overs. The slide from there on was quick as Kuldeep Yadav got among the wickets and finished with 3 for 22.After Pat Cummins was been dismissed, Aniket threatened a jailbreak as he tore into Axar for a sequence of 4, 6, 6 before he was out courtesy of Jake Fraser-McGurk’s athleticism at deep midwicket. If that was a stunner, Axar throwing himself full stretch to his left to intercept a rocket hit off Harshal Patel at mid-off matched that as SRH were bundled out inside 20 overs with Starc finishing with five wickets.

After starting slowly with one win in their first five, Mumbai have bounced back in style, and a victory on Wednesday will take them to third

Ekanth22-Apr-20252:02

Knight: SRH more than capable of adjusting to different conditions

Big picture: Lots to lose for SRH, lots to win for MI

Mixed results were an inherent risk with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) approaching batting like they have nothing to lose. It was polarising, but playing like that nearly won them IPL 2024. They won five of their first seven games last year; in IPL 2025 it’s been the opposite.The template for their success has been for Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma to get off to a flier. Them falling for low scores in that attempt was meant to happen at some point or the other. The issue, as was magnified in the last game – against the same opponents – was that the openers got stuck at times.In a way, that’s worse than getting out for low scores as the top-order batters end up using more balls, which is the pitfall of conservative batting, the style that SRH deliberately tried to avoid. The facts that Nitish Kumar Reddy averages 21 and that Heinrich Klaasen’s highest score so far this season is 35 have cascaded the effects of poor starts.Their bowling has had little to show amid all this. Mohammed Shami is averaging 52.20 and Pat Cummins 36 so far. Their spinners have taken the least wickets, and have the worst economy across teams this season.Related

• Dropping catching standards in IPL – repeat offenders, biggest beneficiaries, and more

• Sai Sudharsan upstages Pooran to become the new Orange Cap table-topper

• Rohit stays true to himself to keep the doubts away

• Teams face up to home truths in first half of IPL 2025

Mumbai Indians (MI) are perfectly placed in all of this. They built their success in the last decade by starting slow and catching up as the season progressed. They had one win after five games this season, before a hat-trick of wins lifted them to the sixth spot; one more on Wednesday will take them up to third. They lost their first three games away from home but handed Delhi Capitals (DC) their first loss of the season with a remarkable comeback win.Trent Boult has not only swung the new ball but also used his variations early on. Jasprit Bumrah is finding his rhythm after injury, but unlike most mortals, is doing it much quicker and with a lot more control. Reverse swing coming back into fold due to the use of saliva is helpful.That might be necessary in Hyderabad, which is unlikely to assist the bowlers like the slow Wankhede pitch in the previous match. What they do have, under Hardik Pandya and experienced bowlers, is the ability to suss out the conditions early and try out multiple plans.

Form Guide

Sunrisers Hyderabad LWLLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians WWWLL

In the spotlight: Nitish Kumar Reddy and Mitchell Santner

MI’s turnaround win against DC was set up by Mitchell Santner dismissing Karun Nair with a jaffa that pitched around middle and off and clipped top of off. That was a shortish ball at 90ks. But he can also loop a ball at 77ks, draw a batter forward and have him stumped, like he did to Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) Shaik Rasheed. His ability to bowl defensively or aggressively on demand makes him a more conditions-agnostic fingerspinner than most others.Nitish Kumar Reddy has had a sharp dip in form. He has scored 131 runs at an average of 21.33 and a strike rate of 113.91 in seven games. He hasn’t bowled yet either. SRH probably need a batter who can bat long, but Reddy hasn’t been successful in doing that so far.The return of Jasprit Bumrah has made Mumbai that much more formidable•AFP/Getty Images

Team news and likely XIIs

SRH brought in Rahul Chahar as their impact player in the last game based on conditions. They also left out Abhinav Manohar upon batting first. They might need to bring back Manohar or perhaps introduce Atharva Taide to strengthen their line-up.Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar/Atharva Taide, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Zeeshan Ansari, 12 Eshan Malinga/Wiaan MulderMumbai Indians (MI) are unlikely to make a change given their success in the last game given all players remain fit. They are also well balanced with seven bowling options, Will Jacks included, and seven specialist batters and Santner, who is handy at No. 8.Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12 Ashwani Kumar

The big question

Pitch and Conditions

The pitch at Hyderabad is likely to be a belter not just because that’s generally the case but also because SRH’s batters need to turn a corner. There have been four scores of 240-plus this season in eight innings so far, so expect a lot of runs. It’s going to be a warm evening after a hot day, where the max temperature is forecast to be 38° celsius in Hyderabad.Sunrisers will be looking for more from Pat Cummins in the remaining games•BCCI

Stats and Trivia

• Hyderabad as a ground has the highest strike-rate amongst batters and also the place where most sixes have been hit this season.
• MI’s batters averaged 28.50 and scored at a run rate of 8.60 in their first four games, but those numbers have shot up to 36.04 and 10.25 respectively in the last four.
• MI’s run-rate of 10.51 in the middle overs since April 7 is the best among all teams.

Quotes

“It’s just a game but emotional playing at my home-ground. So I just want to do my basics right and do well for the team.”
Tilak Varma on playing for an away team in Hyderabad