Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings Predictions: The teams have had very contrasting season leading up to this game

Playing in their third game of the season Sunrisers Hyderabad will welcome Punjab Kings in the 14th game of the season at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on 9th April. The teams have started their campaigns in very contrasting manners with Punjab getting two wins and the Sunrisers registering two defeats. Who will win this game?

Sunrisers Hyderabad have had a disappointing start to the tournament, losing both their matches so far. Despite it being early days in the competition, they need to bounce back soon.

The top order has been a major concern for the team as they have scored only 131 and 121 runs in their two matches. Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi have failed to provide a solid start to the innings.

Newly appointed skipper Aiden Markram was dismissed for a golden duck in his first game, and Harry Brook has also failed to deliver in the middle order. Although the Sunrisers have a strong batting line-up with the likes of Washington Sundar, Abdul Samad, and Adil Rashid, they need a good foundation to build upon.

The team has one of the best pace attacks in the league with Fazalhaq Farooqi, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, and Umran Malik. However, the bowling changes made by the team management have been questionable as they have not utilized the potential of players like Washington Sundar and Umran Malik to the fullest.

Mayank Agarwal, Anmolpreet Singh (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Harry Brook, Washington Sundar, Abdul Samad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Adil Rashid

The Punjab Kings have had a fantastic start to their IPL campaign, winning both of their matches thus far. A victory in their next match would enable them to surpass everyone to occupy the top spot in the points table. While these are the early days of the competition, Punjab fans would love to see it happen. 

The opening combination of Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan has been strong, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa filling the number-3 slot adequately. Jiteah Sharma has shown promise, getting off to good starts in both innings, and the team will be hoping he can convert them into bigger scores. While Shahrukh Khan and Sikandar Raza have not been in top form, Sam Curran lower down the order provides the team with explosive hitting.

Arshdeep Singh and Nathan Ellis have impressed with the new ball, with the latter picking up four wickets against Rajasthan. However, the spin bowlers have struggled, as Rahul Chahar and Sikandar Raza have only managed to take a single wicket each in the two matches.

Although the top order has performed well, the Kings will need their middle-order batsmen to step up in their upcoming game.

Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

The Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad has a great batting surface and has seen some high-scoring matches in previous seasons. Although there is some dry grass on the pitch, which could cause the occasional ball to move a bit, settled batsmen will have no trouble playing their shots. As the match progresses, spinners are expected to come into play, and the team winning the toss may prefer to bat first at this venue based on past results. Teams batting first will aim to score around 200 runs at this venue. We expect another good performance from Punjab Kings and they are expected to win their third game on the trot given the dismal state of Sunriser's batting.