Two wins in two matches, the Sunrisers Hyderabad are creating a bit of momentum in this IPL 2016 season, with David Warner leading from the front in style. SRH will now want to make it three wins in a row when they host the Kings XI Punjab at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday.
Bowling has been the key for SRH in their last two wins, with the men with the white cherry in their hand doing the business up front and with it leaving Warner and co. with a comfortable chase. That should be the strategy going into this match as well for the confident Sunrisers Hyderabad side.
The only team news question to ponder over for Warner and Tom Moody will be if Kane Williamson recovers from his hamstring injury for this match. With that looking unlikely, and with Ashish Nehra and Yuvraj Singh still a fair bit away from a return, there really is no reason for SRH to change their playing XI. With Mustafizur Rahman in good form, Trent Boult will have to bide his time for an opportunity in the middle.
Having won two matches with a similar team – Aditya Tare came in for Ashish Reddy in the last match – there should not be too many changes. The only possibility is Tare, who did not get a bat as Warner and Shikhar Dhawan scripted a ten-wicket win over the Gujarat Lions, going back to the bench with Reddy coming in, as the all-rounder option.
While SRH have shown good form in their last couple of matches, the same cannot be said of KXIP, who have lost three of their four matches in IPL 2016. Their stars just haven't delivered consistently this season, and that needs to change if Kings XI are to threaten the top four places in the IPL.
Changes could be afoot in the batting and bowling, depending on what David Miller thinks will be their best playing XI on the Hyderabad surface, which, so far, has been quite good for the batsmen.
Kyle Abbott might have to sit back down for Mitchell Johnson, if Miller thinks pace could play a role in this match against SRH, while KXIP also have the option of playing Marcus Stoinis, who did reasonably well when he was given an opportunity. Farhaan Behardien is also an option, but Stoinis should get the nod if Kings XI decide to go with an overseas all-rounder, be that for an overseas fast bowler or Shaun Marsh.
Expected playing XI: SRH: David Warner (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Eoin Morgan, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha, Aditya Tare, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bipul Sharma, Barinder Sran, Mustafizur Rahman.
Kings XI Punjab: Manan Vohra, Murali Vijay, Shaun Marsh, David Miller (C), Wriddhiman Saha, Glenn Maxwell, Axar Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Mohit Sharma, Pradeep Sahu, Sandeep Sharma.
