Dale Steyn has made a massive prediction against the Mumbai Indians but has a back-up ready if it doesn’t come true.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad began their IPL 2025 journey the way they ended 2024 – blasting their way through the opposition. A team decorate with big-hitters, SRH inflicted carnage on Rajasthan Royals, smashing them en route to putting up 286/6 – their second-highest score in IPL history. To be fair, SRH look like the only team capable of breaching the much-hyped 300-run mark, given that they hold the record for four of the five highest team scores in the Indian Premier League. On Sunday, they came close, only to fall short by 14 runs, but if Dale Steyn is to be believed, the day when SRH will score 300 or more isn’t too far away.
Dale Steyn has predicted the first-ever 300-plus score in IPL(AFP)
In fact, the former South Africa pacer knows the exact date when it’ll happen. April 17 is when the Sunrisers take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, and that’s the day Steyn is confident of the first-ever 300 being raised in the IPL. “Small prediction. April 17 we’ll see the first 300 in IPL. Who knows, I might even be there to see it happen,” he tweeted.
The last time SRH and MI faced each other in Mumbai, Sunrisers smoked 277/3, with Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen making it rain sixes. The three of them combined to bludgeon 17 sixes, and although the Mumbai Indians pushed them, the five-time champions fell short by 31 runs. That Steyn was confident of SRH being the team to score 300 and not MI was confirmed when replying to a fan tweet “What if MI chose to bat first,” the former SRH bowling coach kept his back-up plan ready. “Haha! Great point, he replied.”
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians’ contrasting beginnings
SRH and MI had contrasting starts to IPL 2025. While last year’s runner-up, Sunrisers registered a handsome 44-run win against the Royals, MI’s losing streak of facing a defeat in the first match of the IPL continued for a 13th straight season. The last time MI won the first match of a season was back in 2012. Ever since, they have won five title – the joint-most by a franchise – and yet the barren run refuses to end. They made CSK stretch, but half-centuries from Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad were enough to take them over the line.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers benefitted from a splendid century from Ishan Kishan. In November, the former MI batter was picked for ₹11.25 crore at the IPL 2025 mega-auction, and the reaction of owner Kavya Maran at that point made it obvious that SRH had secured a steal. Ishan, whose career took a tumultuous twist last year, first getting axed from BCCI’s central contracts list and then falling behind the pecking order in the list of India’s wicketkeepers, experienced a fresh lease of life, when he completed the first century of IPL 2025.
