IPL-2024: Sunrisers Hyderabad To Lock Horns With Punjab Kings in Hyderabad: PBKS opt to bat
In IPL Cricket, a doubleheader will be played on the final day of the league stage today. In the first match, Sunrisers Hyderabad will lock horns with Punjab Kings at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad at 3:30 pm. Punjab Kings have won the toss and have opted to bat.
In the second match, Rajasthan Royals will be up against Kolkata Knight Riders at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The game will start at 7:30 pm. Rajasthan Royals will be looking to book their place in the Qualifier 1 with the win, to set up a tie against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 21 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
A washout in Hyderabad on May 15 confirmed a playoffs berth for Sunrisers Hyderabad and they’ll be keen to have two shots at making the IPL 2024 final by finishing in the top two. For that, they need a victory in their final league game against the spirited but inconsistent Punjab Kings and hope that Rajasthan Royals, who are on a losing streak despite sealing a top-four finish, drop their last game against Kolkata Knight Riders. But it all depends on the weather for Sunday’s afternoon game, and the forecast doesn’t look too promising.
Sunrisers, who have brought the house down with their ferocious batting in this IPL, will look to sustain that intensity going up against the Kings who will be missing several key players in their last match. The hosts, however, haven’t had any onfield action for a while now. They had a seven-day break after their fiery performance against Lucknow Super Giants, which has extended to 10 days of non-action now due to the abandoned match. Will there be any rustiness?
The Kings, having not made the playoffs for 10 successive seasons now, will be hoping to sign off with a consolation win. They come into this game with some confidence, having overpowered the Royals in their previous match, but have a severely depleted side with the bulk of their overseas players having departed. And even in their last victory, it was the middle order that stood up and delivered, with their top-order woes not showing any signs of relenting. PBKS’s top three have scored the least runs among all teams in this IPL and have the least number of fifty-plus scores as well, highlighting their major issue this season. Can they find a way around it in their last match?
Squads:
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Travis Head, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Sanvir Singh, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, T Natarajan, Abhishek Sharma, Umran Malik, Mayank Agarwal, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Mayank Markande, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Anmolpreet Singh, Upendra Yadav, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akash Maharaj Singh
Punjab Kings Squad: Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Ashutosh Sharma, Tanay Thyagarajan, Rishi Dhawan, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Woakes, Atharva Taide, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh
