IPL 2018, Match 25, SRH vs KXIP, Match Prediction: Who will win the match today, Sunrisers Hyderabad or Kings XI Punjab?

The Kings XI Punjab have been utterly dominating in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 and are therefore the closest to the playoffs out of all the teams featuring in the tourney. Having secured 10 points already, it’s only a matter of 3 wins now before Ravichandran Ashwin’s boys advance to the next round.

The story of their opponents, the Sunrisers Hyderabad, is not too different either as they have also been at the top of their game most of the time they have stepped onto the field this IPL. Although they have a couple of points lesser than Punjab at this stage, they also seem to be on the right track for the playoffs qualification.

These two teams had met just about a week back in Mohali and Punjab managed to get the better of the Sunrisers there, beating them quite easily. However as the stage is set now for the return fixture in Hyderabad, the hosts will be eager to level it up and get one back on their opponents.

Pitch and Conditions

The Hyderabad pitch more often than not remains two-paced and thus is not particularly ideal for stroke-play. Both fast bowlers, as well as the spinners, are in picture here if they bowl in the right areas. The big dimensions of the ground don’t help the batsmen either as far as playing the big shots are concerned, but since the surface offers a good competition between bat and ball, the games at this venue often turn out to be very engaging and riveting. According to the conditions, the par score here is 155-160.

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Playing Combination

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Probable Changes – Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Alex Hales in, Basil Thampi and Mohammed Nabi Out

Although Basil Thampi bowled superbly the other night in Mumbai, he will, unfortunately, have to make way for Bhuvneshwar Kumar if the latter is declared fit simply because of the skill and the experience factor. Bhuvneshwar, although he hasn’t been in top form with the ball of late, is still a vital cog in Hyderabad’s bowling as he bowls both upfront and in the death, the two most crucial phases of the innings.

Hyderabad desperately needs some explosive power hitting in their batting and the player who is most likely to provide them that is Alex Hales. However, if Hales is slotted at the top of the order, Wriddhiman Saha will be more or less wasted as Hyderabad won’t be able to use him in top 3 and he is not that useful batting lower down the order. But the strike force Hales brings to the table is hard to ignore now considering the fact that Hyderabad are looking a mediocre batting side at the moment.

Predicted XI: Alex Hales, Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma

Kings XI Punjab

Probable Changes – No Changes

Yuvraj Singh is really struggling with his form, not just the low scores that he is registering, but the way he is going about his business. The feet aren’t moving, he is stuck to the crease and is getting late at his shots for some reason. Short balls, as usual, are troubling him, his overall game just doesn’t seem to be sorted.

However, the Punjab think tank won’t lose their patience with him just yet and persist with him for a few more games just for because he has been a big match player and can explode at any stage. The left-hander has got all the tools of being a match winner when he is in full flow.

Predicted XI: Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Barinder Sran, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Zadran

Team Comparison

Hyderabad, especially if Bhuvi returns, is one notch above Punjab as far as the bowling is concerned even though KXIP have also got some really decent bowlers. The thing which makes Hyderabad the best bowling attack in the tourney is that they have quality options for different stages of the innings and there is nobody in there whom the opposition can target as a weak link.

However, it’s vice-versa when it comes to batting as Punjab is a far better batting side. They are a bit top heavy and with a few wickets early, they can be put under pressure, however comparing the overall batting potential of the two sides, the visitors take the cake by a fair margin and it’s probably because of their batting that they will start the favourites tomorrow.

Probable Top Performers

Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Aaron Finch (Kings XI Punjab)

Head to Head

Matches – 11, Sunrisers Hyderabad – 8, Kings XI Punjab – 3

The timing of the match: 08:00 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports Hindi, Star Sports Select 1

Online – Jio TV, Hotstar

The prediction is for the Kings XI Punjab to beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad in this match.