Punjab Kings up until now have played all their 3 games at the Wankhede in Mumbai. They registered a thrilling win over Rajasthan Royals in the opening encounter. PK posted a mammoth total (221) and scraped home by 4 runs in that game. But since then the Punjab franchise have flattered to deceive. They were completely outplayed by CSK in their second game. While they went on to lose against DC even though they were in a dominant position. PK’s problems have been confounded with their captain KL Rahul’s conservative approach. They will be hoping for him to play his natural game and set the tempo. The Chennai pitch will test PK team even more. It will be interesting to see how they counter this challenge.

Sunrisers Hyderabad on the other hand have played all their games at the Chepauk, Chennai. They are the only winless team in the tournament. They lost all 3 games from a position where they could have won the match. SRH’s infamous middle order has again proved to be their Achilles heel. They literally seem to have no answers to the batting collapses. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have played great cameos but they haven’t helped the team win a game yet. But SRH will fancy their chances against PK as they are more familiar with the conditions than them. It will be an interesting contest.

PK vs SRH: Favourites?

Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad are languishing at the bottom half of the table. PK have won 1 game and lost 2 on the trot. SRH on the other hand have lost all the 3 games. Both the teams are struggling to cope with their inability to seize crunch moments in the game. PK’s concerns start right at the top owing to Rahul’s conservative batting. They will want him to play freely. SRH on the other hand are grappling with team combinations. They will love to have some points under their belt. There is little to separate the two sides. SRH’s hunger to win might just see them edging past PK.

Which players will be match-winners in this game?

Mayank Agarwal finally found form in the last game. His aggressive approach at the top is welcome news for PK.

David Warner has to set the stage on fire for SRH. His inspirational batting performance will be key to SRH.

X-factor player:

Punjab Kings might look into draft Moises Henriques into the setup. He might prove to be the X-factor PK need.

Jonny Bairstow has been threatening to take games away from opposition but has been falling short of a match winning performance. Bairstow might turn it around in this game.

David Warner has a tremendous record against Punjab Kings. Expect Warner to come out all guns blazing today.

Probable Playing XI:

Punjab Kings predicted XI:

KL Rahul (WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Moises Henriques, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh

Sunrisers Hyderabad predicted XI:

David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Manish Pandey,  Kane Williamson, Kedar Jadhav, Abdul Samad, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Khaleel Ahmed

What do stats say about PK vs SRH?

PK and SRH have played 16 IPL games against each other.

PK has won 5 matches. SRH has won 11 games.

PK’s highest score against SRH is 211. SRH’s highest score against PK is 212.

PK’s lowest score against SRH is 119. SRH’s lowest score against PK is 114.

Pitch:

The Chennai pitch has been a challenging one for all the batters. Teams have found it hard to score especially with the older ball. Teams batting first have won majority of the games in Chennai this season.

Weather Report:

A high of 33 degrees and a low of 27 degrees is expected. There are no chances of rain. This being a day game team winning the toss will want to bat first.

Ground stats:

150 is the average score at this venue.

StumpsandBails verdict:

It is a battle for elusive points between PK and SRH. SRH hold the edge against PK in this game.