Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings are eyeing a winning end to an otherwise disappointing IPL 2022 campaign.
The IPL 2022 turned out to be another season of what-might-have-been for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). Overhauled by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the reckoning for the final playoffs berth, SRH and PBKS added to their string of unsuccessful campaigns in the IPL.
Plagued by the inconsistency of performances in either department, PBKS and SRH joined Mumbai Indians (MI), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the list of teams to crash out of the race for the top four.
SRH had a poor start and worse end to their run of league games. The 2016 champions went through a five-match winning streak in the middle stages of the league. But the inability to sustain their performances eventually came back to haunt them.
For PBKS, it was another season where they failed to play a consistent brand of cricket. Recognising bowling as their weaker suit, the side loaded with batting depth and gave players license to go for the kill. But as surfaces in Mumbai and Pune started to dry out, the high-risk approach led to an egg on the face for the 2014 runners-up.
Probable SRH vs PBKS Playing XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad – Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Fazhalhaq Farooqi
Punjab Kings – Jonny Bairstow, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Mayank Agarwal, Jitesh Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora
SRH vs PBKS Pitch Report and Venue details
The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai has been relatively true even in the back half of the tournament, with the spongy bounce and dew not allowing it to be an excessively bowler-friendly venue in IPL 2022.
The last two games at the venue have seen MI go as deep as 190/7 in their quest to overhaul SRH’s 193/6 and then successfully chasing down a target of 160 against DC on Saturday. On five of the previous seven occasions, the team batting second has come out triumphant at the iconic ground.
Pacers have relished their time out more than the spinners, accounting for nearly 70% of the wickets that have fallen at the ground, which shouldn’t surprise many given the nature of the track.
Three key questions for SRH vs PBKS clash
Who will lead SRH? – With Kane Williamson flying back home, SRH will have their veteran quick Bhuvneshwar Kumar standing up as captain for the last match. Bhuvneshwar has previously led SRH in six games, of which the side won two. They also have the experience of West Indies’ newly appointed white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran in their ranks.
Will we see the best of Mayank Agarwal? – Well, it’s not been his season for sure with the bat. The Indian batter has gone from the top of the order to the middle but his life hasn’t gotten easy. After a solid run of games in IPL 2020 and 2021, which led to his captaincy ascent, Agarwal has compiled just 195 runs from his 11 innings in IPL 2022.
Will Arshdeep Singh shine again amidst PBKS’ gloom? – Easily PBKS’ biggest positive from a disappointing campaign, left-arm pacer Arshdeep has been tremendous with the ball in hand. Taking his game and range to another level, he has taken 10 wickets with an excellent economy rate of 7.82 while bowling the difficult overs.
SRH vs PBKS Key matchups
Nicholas Pooran vs Kagiso Rabada
Rabada may have not had a consistent run in IPL 2022 but he has positive match-up coming up against SRH’s key batter Pooran, who has struck only 31 runs off 28 balls versus the South African speedster while getting dismissed twice in the IPL.
Shikhar Dhawan vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar
From one Indian to another, Bhuvneshwar has had a wood over Dhawan at the top of the order in IPL cricket. The disciplined right-hander has kept the explosive left-hander down to just 48 runs from a healthy 51 balls worth of one-on-one battles against him.
