Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab will eye a return to winning ways when they come up against each other in Match 19 of IPL 2017.
Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad started the season with two wins, before stumbling against Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. Kings XI Punjab’s story has been pretty similar too; they registered comprehensive wins in their first two matches, before losing to KKR and Delhi Daredevils. Glenn Maxwell’s side must be hurting from the recent loss in Delhi; despite a formidable middle order, KXIP could only muster 137 in pursuit of 189.
The outcome of this match will depend to a huge extent on which of the two Aussies, David Warner or Glenn Maxwell, does more damage with the bat. Both batsmen play one brand of cricket, free and attacking, and could demoralise bowlers pretty quickly. Yuvraj Singh’s bat is coming down nicely and the left-hander has struck the ball sweetly; he too will be keen to cash in on this form and accumulate big runs.
SRH perhaps hold the edge on the bowling front; they have Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is the top wicket-taker this season, apart from the impressive Rashid Khan and the experienced Ashish Nehra. It is expected that the defending champions will further boost their line-up with the inclusion of Mustafizur Rahman. Among the KXIP bowlers, Sandeep Sharma is the one to keep an eye on; the 23-year old can move the ball both ways, and if he finds rhythm early on, he could ask plenty of questions of the SRH batsmen.
This post was published on April 17, 2017 6:35 pm