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Preview: M18 - SRH vs KXIP
03 Apr, 2017
Preview: M18 - SRH vs KXIP
03 Apr, 2017
Preview: M18 - SRH vs KXIP
What
Sunrisers Hyderabad will be in pursuit of their third consecutive win when they clash with Kings XI Punjab in Match 18 of VIVO IPL 2016.
SRH began their campaign with defeats in their first two matches before bouncing back strongly to defeat two formidable teams – they got the better of the defending champions Mumbai Indians at home and then thrashed the-then unbeaten Gujarat Lions in Rajkot. The team must be brimming with confidence after their commanding 10-wicket win over Gujarat Lions in the previous match. The team management must also be overjoyed that in that particular match Shikhar Dhawan spent quality time in the middle and scored a workman-like half-century, which he will hope has put an end to his woeful run of form in recent times.
Kings XI Punjab are sitting at the floor of the table with one win from four outings – that win coming against the Rising Pune Supergiants. In their most recent outing, KXIP lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali. The batting department remains the team’s biggest problem; despite the presence of several batsmen of international repute, KXIP have only managed to post scores of 161-6 (on a batting beauty), 111-9 and 138-8 when they’ve batted first.
When
23 April 2016, 2000 Hrs IST
Where
Rajiv Gandhi Intl. Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Weather
Temperature: Max 36°c, Min 31°c
Humidity: Max 24%
Wind: 4kmph
The Protagonists
In both their wins this season, the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner has taken it upon himself to lead from the front and finish the job; he followed up his unbeaten 90 in the win against the Mumbai Indians with an unbeaten 74 against the Gujarat Lions. That he is 151 runs ahead of the team’s second-highest run-getter illustrates how he has been the team’s best batsman by miles. On the bowling front, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has impressed, as also Mustafizur Rahman; the former recovered quickly from the thrashing he received in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore when he conceded 55 runs in four overs, conceding only 75 runs in twelve overs in the following three matches. Mustafizur has been very effective and extremely hard to get away particularly at the death overs.
The batsmen batting at 4 and 5 to KXIP – David Miller and Glenn Maxwell – have reputations as being the fiercest hitters in the world. However, the duo is yet to set alight the VIVO IPL 2016, having contributed only 75 runs in eight outings combined. For KXIP to compete, they need at least one of them to fire, and hope one of Murali Vijay or Shaun Marsh, who also have the temperament to play a long innings, can hold fort at their end.
Head to Head
Sunrisers Hyderabad have a 4-2 win-loss record in their matches against Kings XI Punjab. In the two matches between the two teams last season, SRH blanked out KXIP on both occasions, winning by 20 runs in Mohali and then winning a high-scoring match by 5 runs in Hyderabad.
Trivia
In the recently-concluded ICC World T20, David Warner scored a total of 38 runs in four innings. In four matches so far in VIVO IPL 2016, the left-hander has scored three half-centuries in his aggregate of 235 runs.
Mustafizur Rahman has played 27 T20 matches so far and his bowling economy rate is an impressive 5.98. In VIVO IPL 2016, his economy rate while bowling in the last five overs is 6.86.
KXIP’s scoring rate in the back ten overs in the three matches they’ve batted first is 7.30.
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab are the two of the three teams who have realised the lowest percentage of runs from their numbers 3-4-5 so far this season. SRH have realised the least from their 3-4-5, who have contributed to the extent of 23.8% of the runs scored by the team’s batsmen. KXIP are third in the list; their nos. 3-4-5 have contributed just over 31% of the runs scored by the team’s batsmen.
What Next
The Sunrisers will stay put at home and three days later take on Rising Pune Supergiants on April 26. Kings XI Punjab meanwhile head back to Mohali and play host to the Mumbai Indians on April 25.
