The Punjab Kings and the Sunrisers Hyderabad are currently in the bottom two places and will try to climb up the IPL 2021 points table when they meet at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.
Sunrisers have started with three defeats in a row, ceding the advantage from promising positions in all three chases. They need to solve their middle-order muddle. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have been aggressive but there remain question marks over Hyderabad’s batting line-up not least around Manish Pandey, who has failed to close games. Kane Williamson, if fit, should play. Bairstow donning the keeping gloves could allow Kedar Jadhav to replace Wriddhiman Saha.
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Strongest suit
Their bowling is their strongest suit: a large array of options, with Rashid Khan as a genuine wicket-taking threat in the middle overs. But the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be a concern. He has gone for 120 runs in three matches and has picked two wickets.
Bowling a concern
The Kings will draw inspiration from Mayank Agarwal’s return to form. He made a 36-ball 69 against the Delhi Capitals on Sunday. The Punjab side has quality batsmen in KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda and Shahrukh Khan, but the bowling form is spread thin across their squad. Mohammed Shami, Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith have gone for runs with Arshdeep Singh, currently, their highest wicket-taker, being the only outlier.
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The Kings and Sunrisers' meeting in Chennai will give an early indication of whether one of these teams can go deep into the tournament.
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