Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Punjab Kings in the 69th match of the Indian Premier League today at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Sunrisers Hyderabad have qualified for the playoffs already, but if they win this match and Rajasthan fail to beat KKR in the last match of the group stage, then SRH will finish no.2 on the table, which would allow them two chances for making it into the finals. If the game washes out and Rajasthan loses the next game, this would ensure SRH's no.2 finish.
Coming to performances throughout the season, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have been murderous at the top. As a spectator, it has been really enjoyable to watch them bat. Heinrich Klaasen has added the much-needed firepower in the middle order, while Samad has been really good at the deathovers.
A find for them this season has been Nitish Reddy, who has done very well with the bat in crucial times. His bowling too has come in handy at times.
Pat Cummins and T Natarajan have been their best bowlers so far. With Bhuvneshwar starting to get back to form and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth doing well in his first match, the bowling is starting to look better.
EXPECTED LINE UP OF 12: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Mayank Agarwal/Rahul Tripathi, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, 12 T Natarajan
PUNJAB KINGS
Though Punjab Kings have been eliminated, a win in the last match would make them jump to 8th from 9th. Punjab started off the tournament decently and also won 3 of their last 5 matches, but a streak of four losses in the middle stages has hurt them badly.
In the last game of the season, they have only overseas players available for selection - Rilee Rossouw and Nathan Ellis. This would ensure at least 10 Indian players featuring in the last match, led by captain Jitesh Sharma.
The biggest takeaway for Punjab Kings in the batting department has been the performance of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, who will be aiming to finish the tournament on a high. The rest of the batting has been poor to mediocre at best.
The bowling has done much better, with Harshal Patel being the purple cup holder. Arshdeep Singh and Rahul Chahar too have had decent seasons, while the other spinner Harpreet Brar has been pretty economical with the ball.
EXPECTED LINE UP OF 12: 1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Atharva Taide, 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 Shashank Singh, 5 Jitesh Sharma (capt, wk), 6 Ashutosh Sharma, 7 Rishi Dhawan, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Nathan Ellis, 11 Rahul Chahar, 12 Arshdeep Singh
PITCH AND WEATHER REPORT
Hyderabad has emerged as a high-scoring venue in this IPL season, boasting an average first-innings score of 203. The Arun Jaitley Stadium is the only venue with a higher run rate (10.69) compared to Hyderabad's 9.94. However, weather conditions might interfere again, with a 30% chance of rain forecasted.
INTERESTING STATS AND FACTS
- Travis Head has the 3rd most runs this season - 533
- Among players with a minimum of 200 runs, Abhishek Sharma(205.64) and Travis Head(201.89) have the 2nd and 3rd highest strike rates respectively.
- Travis Head has hit the most number of fours this season - 61.
- Abhishek Sharma(35) and Travis Head(31) are in 3rd and 5th position respectively for the most sixes hit this season.
- Harshal Patel(22) has the most wickets this season
- Bhuvneshwar has dominated Prabhsimran, dismissing him three times in just 11 balls while conceding only 15 runs.
- Rossouw has struggled against Bhuvneshwar, scoring only five runs in ten balls without being dismissed, and has managed 14 runs in 12 balls with one dismissal against Pat Cummins.
- Abhishek has thrived against Arshdeep, hitting 34 runs off 23 balls without being dismissed.
- Harshal has been effective against Heinrich Klaasen, dismissing him three times in 30 balls and conceding only 38 runs.
- Reddy has had great success against Harpreet Brar, scoring 38 runs in 16 balls without being dismissed.
MATCH DETAILS
Time: 330 PM IST
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Live broadcast: Star Network
Live streaming: JioCinema App
DREAM 11
