Its match No. 22 in IPL 2020 as Sunrisers Hyderabad gear up to lock horns with Kings XI Punjab at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Both teams toil in the bottom half of the points table and will have a lot of catch-ups to be done.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad received a massive setback losing Bhuvneshwar Kumar owing to injury. He was the leader in the pace attack and Prithvi Raj Yarra replaced him. He is yet to join the squad. The likes of Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, and Natarajan will have to take more onus to fulfil the void.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting has also been an area of concern. The likes of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow has failed to fire consistently along with the absence of a gun finisher. They will hope to cash in on the weak links in Kings XI Punjab’s bowling to return to winning ways.
Hyderabad-Punjab lock horns for two crucial points
On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab have lost a couple of close games and a 10-wicket drubbing against Chennai Super Kings have shattered their confidence. Glenn Maxwell misfiring so far is probably hurting them more than anything and batting coach Wasim Jaffer has already mooted the possibility of Chris Gayle finally featuring.
It means Mayank Agarwal is likely to bat at No.3 and if the top-order fires, there is not stopping Kings XI Punjab. Their death bowling has also been an area of concern and the franchise will hope to solve it quickly ahead of the business end of IPL 2020. The likes of Sheldon Cottrell and Mohammed Shami need to shoulder more responsibility as Punjab look forward to their second win.
IPL 2020: Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Dubai International Stadium on October 8 at 7:30 PM IST
Pitch Conditions
That last two games have witnessed high scores. Kings XI Punjab themselves saw CSK ruthlessly chase down their target without losing a wicket and Delhi Capitals posted 196 at the same venue on October 5.
Captains will once again be in a dilemma in terms of what to do after winning the toss.
Predicted Playing XI
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (C), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Harpreet Brar/Murugan Ashwin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami, Sheldon Cottrell/Hardus Viljoen
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow (WK), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan. Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan, Siddarth Kaul/Khaleel Ahmed
Match Prediction – Who will win the match?
Sunrisers Hyderabad have completely dominated Kings XI Punjab whenever both sides have locked horns. They have won 10 of the 14 meetings so far in the competition. Also, Hyderabad skipper David Warner has an excellent record against Punjab.
He is the leading run-getter vs KXIP in IPL with 819 runs and has scored fifties in each of the last eight innings against Kings XI Punjab. As a result, Sunrisers Hyderabad look like the firm favourites of winning this tie and securing their third victory in IPL 2020.
