IPL 2018: Match 16, KXIP vs SRH, Preview - Fiery Punjab up against the rampant Sunrisers

Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) are all set to host the only unbeatable team this season Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday at PCA IS Bindra Stadium. Both the teams are enjoying early honours by being in the top half of the points table and a win for either of them would strengthen their position. While KXIP are looking a strong unit this year and it won’t be easy for SRH to get past them. However, an exciting encounter is in prospect for the cricket fans as it will be the battle between two of the most formidable sides.

R Ashwin has so far been the unpredictable captain as he had promised the same ahead of the tournament with the team changes and his leadership traits. When everyone expected Chris Gayle to play against RCB in Bangalore, he caught everyone off-guard by playing him against CSK and the Caribbean cricketer made the difference. Also, he has been leading from the front in the field and with the ball with clever reviews and affecting run-outs which proves how badly he wants to take his team towards glory this year.

Kane Williamson is not so expressive captain compared to the others in the tournament. He quietly goes about his business and has done extremely well to not lose any of the three games so far. But it seems that he will have to pull out a rabbit out of the hat against Punjab boys to spoil their bhangra. He will be delighted the way their bowling attack has fared so far but their batting remains dodgy after the fall of their in-form top order.

Toss: KXIP won the toss and elected to bat first

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson(c), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul, Chris Jordan

Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Barinder Sran, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Team Combination

Kings XI Punjab

Axar Patel should return to the side in place of Barinder Sran after the former sat out of the previous game due to a niggle. Aaron Finch is too good a player to be dropped after two consecutive golden ducks and would be aiming to get off the mark in this game. No other changes are expected for the home side but the batting line-up should fare better after the top order is providing them with blistering starts more often than not.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

This time has no reason to change their winning combination. Their ploy to send Saha to open the innings has worked wonders so far which has helped their skipper Williamson to accumulate himself at number 3 and control the innings wonderfully. But the remainder of the batters are yet to step up and they might need to contribute against KXIP. The bowling has been the best of the tournament so far as they haven’t conceded more than 150 yet and would hope to continue in the same vein.

Focus will be on

Chris Gayle (Kings XI Punjab)

Chris Gayle announced himself to the IPL sensationally against CSK with a match-winning knock of 63 off 33 deliveries and one would expect for him to continue the same way. He can snatch the game away from the opposition from any team on his day. Historically, he has failed in the very next match to deliver after wreaking havoc in the previous encounter. But if he gets going, even the best bowling attack of SRH might come under pressure and KXIP will be banking on him again to provide them with a blistering start.

Manish Pandey (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Manish Pandey is surely under pressure going into this game after two consecutive failures in the last couple of games. He is currently batting at number 4 for his team and the scores of 4 and 11 are not helping his cause. There is a possibility that the pressure might be getting to him courtesy the price tag he is carrying after the auction earlier this year. He needs to display his potential soon as the middle order of SRH is heavily dependent on him else the line-up looks thin suddenly.

Head to Head

Played 10, Kings XI Punjab – 2, Sunrisers Hyderabad- 8

StatAttack

200 – Ashwin will be playing his 200th T20 match and will be hoping to win it.

300 – Shakib Al Hasan needs only 1 wicket to complete 300 wickets in the shortest format of the game.

Broadcast details

TV– Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Jalsha (Bengali), Star Maa Movies (Telegu), Star Sports Tamil

Live Streaming– Hotstar & YuppTv

Match Timings: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT

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