David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will go up against KL Rahul’s Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Thursday in the 22nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The match is scheduled to begin at 7.30 PM (IST).
Despite flourishing batting displays by the openers, KXIP are currently at the bottom of the league table with two points. They have lost 4 of their 5 league games this season, but still holding a positive Net Run Rate (NRR) because of the close results where most of them went against their favour.
Captain Rahul, pairing up with Mayank Agarwal have already scored a total of 574 runs this year and the two are among the top-3 in the race of Orange Cap. Punjab’s bowling unit, along with the middle order, have been a major concern for their recent failures. Except for Rahul and Mayank, no one showed their consistency in the middle-order who can anchor the innings till the very end.
In bowling, Mohammad Shami has been the only star performer for the Punjab-based franchise. The 30-year-old picked up 8 wickets in 5 matches with an average of 19.12. SRH, on the other hand, have not started off the season just like they planned. They are currently sitting at the 6th position in the league table with 4 points. The Warner-led side has got two wins in five matches. Star openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow are yet to find their supreme natural form.
In bowling, the Hyderabad-based franchise have already lost Bhuvneshwar Kumar due to an injury. Afghanistan’s leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s form is the only positive talking point for the team management. The 22-year-old has picked up 5 wickets in 5 games with an average of 20.80 but also maintained a reasonable 5.20 economy rate.
Both teams will be looking to forget their recent forms and get back to their winning momentum in this fixture. While KXIP’s victory would help them to challenge further for the knock-outs, a win for SRH would take them to the top-4.
My Dream11 team for Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kings XI Punjab match:
David Warner (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Nicholas Pooran, Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Glenn Maxwell, Abdul Samad, Sheldon Cottrell, Ravi Bishnoi, T Natarajan, Rashid Khan
Probable XIs for both sides:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow (WK), Manish Pandey, Priyam Garg, Kane Williamson/Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi/Siddharth Kaul, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (C&WK), Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Sheldon Cottrell, Mujeeb ur Rehman/Chris Jordan
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