Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Kings X1 Punjab in a clash of bottom-placed teams at Dubai International Stadium. Both teams are struggling with certain issues and their standings on table justify that. Both teams are not in a position to lose another match and would want to win to gather some momentum.
Adadaniki siddanga unnam ⚔️#SRHvKXIP #OrangeArmy #KeepRising #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/cr5ErD7zSn
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) October 8, 2020
Kings X1 are more desperate of two as are lying on 8th place with one victory from 5 matches and one more defeat and their playoff chances would be as good as over. Sunrisers would like to win to stay in contention. Starting with Kings X1 they have problems left right and centre. Their middle-order batting has not clicked properly, although to be fair to them the pressure of run-rate can force you to take undue risks but that is nature of IPL game. Their batting still depends on openers and both have done well till now.
They would hope that middle order scores more runs and provide the much-needed impetus to innings. Their bowling needs a lot of rethinking to be done as not able to defend 180 is a cause of worry. Cottrell and Shami have not been penetrative like the first two matches. Spinners apart from Bishnoi have been ordinary. They have to bring out best from their available resources otherwise it is going to be a painstaking journey for them.
Sunrisers have won last two of their 3 matches but would want more runs from their middle order as Warner-Bairstow cannot score all the runs. Williamson would want to come good with bat and also guide likes of Garg, Sharma and big-hitting Samad. Bowling is also a worry as they have lost Bhuvneshwar and which means that Sandeep, Siddharth & Natarajan have to bowl with more responsibility as opposition teams are looking to play out Rashid.
Their bowlers went for 200 + in Sharjah but taking into consideration the dimensions of ground they can be forgiven. One can expect them to be better at Dubai but in Bhuvneshwar’s absence, they have to be more focussed now. It’s very difficult to predict as both teams are in a very similar situation, but by what we have seen in last 3 matches SRH will start slight favourites and needless to say toss will play an important part as well.