Both sides were in action on Saturday, and both suffered defeat. The Sunrisers going down by 8-wickets to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at their own Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. While the Indians were beaten off of the last ball of the match by the newly formed Gujarat Lions, who have now won all three of their fixtures, and head the table.
The Sunrisers have now played and lost two fixtures. Both games ending in heavy defeats for the team that has still to make any real impact on the IPL, after three seasons in which they have finished fourth, sixth and sixth.
Mumbai are immediately above their hosts in the table, having managed to record one victory to set alongside two losses as they have opened the defence of their title in poor for.
With AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli at their destructive best with the bat in their opening contest, it was hardly surprising that the Sunrisers fell to an opening defeat, falling 45 runs short of their opponents imposing 227-4.
Eoin Morgan, the England T20I skipper found some form with 51 against KKR, but only the wicket keeper Naman Ojha with 37 offered him any kind of support, and the 142-7 that they posted never challenged their opponents with Gautam Gambhir scoring a majestic 90 fro just 60 deliveries.
Mumbai came close to defending 143-8 against the Lions, who are looking like potential Champions, even at this early stage of the season. But were yet another side unable to contain Aaron Finch, who posted yet another half-century, overcoming bouts of cramp and a hamstring twinge to hit the winning runs from the final ball of the best contest of the 2016 season thus far.