Kings XI Punjab will be aiming for a desperate turnaround when they take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad later today. KL Rahul's side has lost four of its first five matches despite some terrific individual performances. SRH, meanwhile, have remained inconsistent and are further hurt with the injury of strike bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is ruled out of the tournament.
As both the sides clash, let's take a look at some of the key stats:
Head-to-head tie: Kings XI Punjab have managed to win just four IPL matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 14 meetings, two of which came in the last two seasons. However, it was KXIP who had emerged victorious in their only meeting on the UAE soil against the Sunrisers, winning by a massive 72-run margin in Sharjah.
At the venue: Kings XI Punjab have lost two of their three matches at the venue this season, hence holding a 2-2 record in Dubai in IPL. Sunrisers, on the other hand, have a 3-1 record in four IPL matches. They have won and lost one this year in Dubai.
Crucial Stats:
- David Warner is the highest run-getter in IPL against Kings XI Punjab, scoring 819 runs at 54.60 with ten half-century scores. But Warner, even though he managed a comeback fifty in the previous game, has recorded a poor boundary rate. In 2016, he hot boundaries every 4.17 balls, which increased to 5.6 in 2017, 6.16 in 2019 and 7.14 in 2020. Moreover, he has managed a strike rate of just 123.23, almost 20 less than his career IPL rate.
- Problems with the bat has been almost similar for the two teams. Sunrisers have a powerplay average of 56.00, but have faltered in the slog overs scoring at just 8.8 runs per over while losing 3 wickets at an average. KXIP have two in-form openers, KL Rahul (302 runs at 75.50) and Mayank Agarwal (272 runs at 54.50), both vying for the Orange Cap. But despite good starts, they have scored at 10.88 runs per over in the last four overs.
- Will KXIP bring in Mujeeb to end their death-over woes? He has an economy rate of 8.26 and strike rate of 12.0 in the slog overs with 23 wickets since 2018.
