Will Kane Williamson play in SRH vs Mumbai Indians? Kiwi skipper gives huge update

With SunRisers Hyderabad struggling to get a win under their belt, the 2016 IPL champions eagerly await the return of Kane Williamson into the playing XI to boost the batting lineup. The New Zealand skipper has been out of action due to an elbow injury. With SRH set to face Mumbai Indians tomorrow, the Kiwi talisman has provided a key update on his availability for the high-pitched battle. 

In a video shared by the franchise on Twitter, Kane Williamson has said that he has been recovering well and that he is hoping to be match-ready within a week. This means that Williamson will not be available for Hyderabad's clash against Mumbai in Chennai tomorrow. 

"...you know I have been focussed to get pain free as quickly as possible and we are certainly tracking really nicely and hoping to be fit and ready within the week," Williamson said in the video. 

"It's been a bit of a balance between practice and rehab and sort of things. But for the most part, the progression is been really good. So pretty optimistic about being close to full fitness very soon," he added. In the previous season, Williamson acted as SRH's backbone as he stormed opponents with his clinical finishes. Williamson had scored 317 runs in 11 innings to take SRH to the playoffs last season in UAE.

Speaking on Williamson's exclusion from the playing eleven, Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Trevor Baylis had revealed in a post-match press conference after SRH's season-opener against two-time winners KKR that the team management felt the Kiwi batsman needed some more time to gain match fitness. The New Zealand international had sustained an elbow injury which had forced him to miss the limited-overs series against Bangladesh ahead of the Indian Premier League. Baylis had also suggested that Williamson could have played in place of Jonny Bairstow if he was completely fit. 

SRH struggle to win

After a defeat against KKR in their first game, SRH suffered a dramatic batting collapse against RCB as they faced another loss in the IPL 2021. Chasing a target of 150, SRH seemed to be cruising towards an easy win with skipper David Warner and Manish Pandey stabilising their innings as the scorecard read 96/1. However, once Warner departed for an impactful 54, it was just a matter of time before the Orange Army suffered a dramatic batting collapse.

The turning point of the contest came in the 17th over when left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed took three wickets in one over as he accounted for the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Pandey, and, Abdul Samad respectively. Afghan leggie Rashid Khan tried his best to keep the 2016 champions in the hunt but once he was run out going for a non-existent second run, it was curtains down for SRH as they were restricted to 143/9 from their 20 overs.