IPL 2020: David Warner the key for SRH against MI

Bengaluru, November 3: As Sunrisers Hyderabad are set to on take on Mumbai Indians in a must-win game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday (November 2), all eyes will be on David Warner.

The SRH skipper is just 56 runs away from completing 500 runs in IPL this season.

Only two players -- orange cap holder and Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul (670 runs from 14 innings) and Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan (525 from 14) -- have breached the 500 mark in IPL this season.

MI, DC and Royal Challengers Bangalore have already qualified for the play-off stage of IPL 2020.

Sunrisers Hyderabad can seal the final play-off place at the expense of KKR if they beat defending champions MI on Tuesday.

Though KKR have 14 points at present, their negative net run rate of -0.214 is standing in the way of play-off qualification prospects.

POINTS TABLE | LEADING RUN GETTERS

Australian opener Warner is sixth leading run-getter of the season and with the left-hander having found form of late, a good knock against MI on Tuesday will help in a long way for the Hyderabad franchise to edge KKR and make it to the play-offs, where RCB will be their opponents.

SRH are not just riding high on momentum, they are also a team, full of confidence, having outplayed DC and RCB in their previous two outings.

"In 2016 we had to win three games and we did that," said Warner, referring to their title-winning campaign four seasons ago.

The nature of surface in Sharjah has changed drastically with low-scores replacing 200-plus totals, which was the norm at the start of the tournament.

Though the swashbuckling Warner has not been at his usual best in IPL 2020, he still has managed to score 444 runs from 13 innings at an average of 37 and more importantly at a strike rate of 134.95.

Warner has so far scored three half-centuries in the tournament and is due for a big one and the do-or-die match against MI could just be the perfect opportunity for him to raise his game.