Confident Punjab Kings face inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL clash

Punjab Kings, riding strong early-season form, face an inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad struggling with top-order failures. PBKS aim to bounce back after a rain-hit match, while SRH hope their key players deliver in the IPL clash at Mullanpur

Mullanpur: A plucky Punjab Kings will back themselves against a star studded yet inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday.

Considering how they have started the season, PBKS must be disappointed about sharing a point with KKR in their last game due to rain.

---

Led by Shreyas Iyer, PBKS have come to symbolise what a winning unit should look like, whether it is chasing down a 200-plus total with ease against Chennai Super Kings in a sea of yellow or overcoming former champions Gujarat Titans on a tricky Mullanpur surface.

They could have been on course for a third successive win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens with Australian quick Xavier Bartlett wreaking havoc before heavy rain and a thunderstorm forced them to share a point with the hosts.

As opener-keeper Prabhsimran Singh, fresh off a 500-plus run breakout season, put it, PBKS are focused on collective success over Orange or Purple Cap pursuits, a mindset reflected in Cooper Connolly’s unbeaten 72 against Gujarat Titans and Vijaykumar Vyshak’s growing impact with the ball.

However the same cannot be said about Sunrisers Hyderabad who despite their reputation for explosive batting and big totals have faltered this season largely due to top-order collapses as seen against RCB and LSG when the dangerous opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma fell cheaply.

Adding to their woes SRH have seen little impact from the likes of Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat. The batting efforts of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen were among the few positives for SRH against LSG.

Spinner Harsh Dubey has shown glimpses of brilliance in the powerplay and he would be expected to carry on with his form.

Jaydev Unadkat conceded 50 runs in 23 balls in the last game and the Saurashtra strongman would be itching to make amends. The left arm pacer had a tough job of defending nine runs in the last over against LSG but was not able to contain the opposition.

Teams (from):
Punjb Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Arshdeep Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Azmatullah Omarzai, Xavier Bartlett, Yuzvendra Chahal, Cooper Connolly, Praveen Dubey, Ben Dwarshuis, Lockie Ferguson, Harnoor Singh, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Musheer Khan, Vishal Nishad, Mitchell Owen, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nehal Wadhera, Yash Thakur.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Ishan Kishan (c & wk), Abhishek Sharma, Amit Kumar, Salil Arora, Brydon Carse, Pat Cummins, Harsh Dubey, Krains Fuletra, Travis Head, Praful Hinge, Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone, Eshan Malinga, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshal Patel, David Payne, Sakib Hussain, Shivam Mavi, Shivang Kumar, Ravichandran Smaran, Onkar Tarmale, Jaydev Unadkat, Aniket Verma, Zeeshan Ansari.

Match starts 3:30pm IST.