Going into the weekend high on confidence, both Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) lost their respective games in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday and come Monday, they will look to get back to winning ways when both teams clash at the I.S. Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
While KXIP have had a mixed journey so far in the tournament, winning three games and losing two, SRH were looking on a roll after the loss in their first game in Kolkata before Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Alzarri Jospeh halted them in their own home ground on Saturday.
Picking six wickets in his debut game, not only did he take MI to a convincing win, but also exposed the weakness in the middle-order of the SRH batting and that is something that KXIP skipper R. Ashwin will have taken note of as his team prepares to welcome SRH to their den on Mohali.
For KXIP, it is a combination of failure in the pace bowling department as well as the lack of form of the middle-order that needs to be worked on and quickly. While Sam Curran and Mohammed Shami were brilliant in the game against the Delhi Capitals, they looked completely off colour in the last game against Chennai. In the batting department also, apart from KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan, the other batsmen have flattered to deceive.
But luckily for them, they will be back on home conditions and the pacers will definitely get more help than what they got in Chennai.
What to expect?
The pitch is expected to play well and help the batsmen and pacers as well in the beginning. There will be some turn at offer as well and despite the night game, dew should not be much of a deciding factor.
Probable Playing XIs:
KXIP: Lokesh Rahul (WK), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Andrew Tye, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami
Sunrisers Hyderabad
SRH: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (C), Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul
