Sunrisers favourite on Kings’ turf

Tribune News Service

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Mohali, April 27

With three wins in seven matches so far, Kings XI Punjab turn to Mohali, their second home ground, in a battle of survival against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.

Going into the match, Kings XI are in a dire situation as they need to win at least four or five games out of the remaining seven to stay in the race for the playoffs. Sunrisers, on the other hand, are eyeing to consolidate their third position in the points table.

Already, Hyderabad are one-up, having beaten Punjab at their home ground by five runs while defending a modest total of 159 runs.

The hosts would need to fine-tune their strategy if they wish to surprise the Hyderabad team this time. The Punjab team has been making changes in their playing XI in every match this IPL season but not with much success.

West Indies all-rounder Darren Sammy has joined the squad in Mohali and is expected to get a game. Left-arm seamer T Natrajan might also get a look in, considering that Hyderabad has two in-form left-handed openers. 

The Tamil Nadu seamer may play a big role in Kings’ performance with his novelty factor. Natrajan could be effective in holding back David Warner, who has a prolific record against Kings, with 617 runs in 14 innings at a strike-rate of 143.15. 

Moreover, Natrajan could also trouble Shikhar Dhawan, who doesn’t have a great record against left-handed seamers. The hosts’ real challenge, however, would be to restrict the defending champions in the middle overs, where they look to up the ante against the opposition. 

To make matters worse, Kings’ record in the death overs has been the worst in the eight-team tournament. They have been giving away runs at an average of 11.62 per over towards the end with only eight wickets to show in this season.

From the fans point of view, it is going to be a high-scoring match with the batsmen from both teams in rich vein of form. Also, Mohali’s wicket has a reputation of being conducive to stroke-play. 

Yuvraj Singh, recovering from flu, though, is uncertain for tomorrow’s match. He was forced to sit out of Sunrisers’ previous match against Rising Pune Supergiant last week.