What

Match 48 of Pepsi IPL 2015 will present Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will be pitted against Kings XI Punjab, a chance to get back among the top four teams in the standings.

SRH have six wins from 11 matches and are among the several teams vying for a Playoff spot. In their most recent outing, SRH held their nerves to outclass a spirited Delhi Daredevils chase of 164 in Raipur. Heading into the business end of the competition, SRH will be feeling good that things are falling in place. Depth in the middle order and the lack of the options in the spin bowling department were identified as areas of concern. SRH will be relieved that the concern regarding the middle order has been answered in recent times, with Eoin Morgan and Moises Henriques playing sterling knocks in the last few matches.

KXIP lie at the floor of the table with just two wins from 11 matches. Playing for pride, giving their fans reason to cheer and giving themselves the assurance and confidence that they can compete are among the several motivations for them.

When

11 May 2015, 8p.m. IST

Where

Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad

The Protagonists

SRH will expect the two left-handers at the top of the innings – David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan – to get cracking. The SRH skipper has scored 423 runs in eleven innings, but he will know that he hasn’t done too much noteworthy in the last three matches. The Australian will have fond memories of playing in Hyderabad – a venue where he averages 74 with the bat and has scored his 370 runs in seven IPL innings at a strike-rate of 172.09 – and will be keen to get back among the runs.

Glenn Maxwell has had a very poor tournament so far – definitely by the standards he set for himself in last season. However, in his most recent innings against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Australian entertained; he hit three sixes and four boundaries, connected the ball well, and even played the reverse sweeps one was so used to seeing him play last season. He is the kind of player who can cause plenty of damage if he bats for 20-30 balls; KXIP will hope he can do that on Monday.

Previous Meetings

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have a slight edge heading into this contest against Kings XI Punjab for they have won three of the five matches between the two teams.

In the most recent clash between these two teams, SRH registered a comfortable 20-run victory in Mohali. Riding on skipper David Warner’s 41-ball 58, SRH posted 150-6 on the board batting first. Trent Boult and Bhuvneshwar Kumar then bowled brilliantly – returning combined figures of 8-0-42-5 – to deny the hosts. KXIP batted out the twenty overs in their run chase, but fell 20 short.

Trivia

Among venues where they have played more than two IPL matches, Kings XI Punjab have the best record at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad; they have won 4 of their 5 IPL matches at the venue.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is now Sunrisers Hyderabad’s leading wicket-taker in the IPL, has picked up at least one wicket in each of his last eight matches. This is the first time in his IPL career that he has a string of eight matches in which he has picked up at least one wicket.

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