Kings XI Punjab, with the as-exciting-as-it-gets Glenn Maxwell and David Miller in tow, have been the most enthralling team in IPL 7 so far. The Punjab side will look to make it three thrilling wins out of three when they take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad, desperate to pick up their first victory of the tournament, in Sharjah on Tuesday.
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The game is scheduled for an 6.30 pm local time (8 pm IST, 3.30 pm BST, 10.30 am ET) start with live coverage on Sony Max in Hindi and Sony Six in English. Catch the action via live streaming online in India HERE or HERE. Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa can catch the action on OSN and with the link HERE. Rest of the world can catch the IPL action HERE, HERE or through the GoCricket apps. Viewers in the US can live stream the action HERE, while audience in Canada can do the same HERE. New Zealand viewers can do the same through Sky NZ HERE. Viewers in the UK can catch the action live on ITV, while Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will have TV coverage via Geo Super, Maasaranga TV and Carlton Sports Network respectively.
KXIP have been pretty impressive with the bat in their two games, chasing down two huge totals - the first against CSK and the second against the Rajasthan Royals.
Maxwell has been the key in both victories, scoring at a searing strike rate, and making the reverse sweep look easier than a forward defence. Miller has been the finisher for Kings XI, taking his team to stunning victories after the initial job was done by Maxwell.
However, no other batsmen has really sparkled for Kings XI, not that they have been needed, but the coaching team will be happy to see the openers Virender Sehwag and Cheteshwar Pujara, who was decent in the second game, play a bigger role.
"He is hitting the ball well," Kings XI coach Sanjay Bangar said about Sehwag. "In the last game, he was slightly unlucky. It went off the middle of the bat and straight to a fielder, it could have gone anywhere. We know, within our own minds, that a good knock from Viru is just around the corner.
"We are pretty pleased with the way Cheteshwar is shaping up because he has a role to play. Despite this being Twenty20 cricket, I still believe there is room for a solid batsman at the top of the order. I am pretty sure as the tournament goes on, he will pick up his game.
"It's just a matter of getting used to the T20 stuff. I believe if he can do that, it will be good for the team, and we will not have to rely on just the talents we have in the middle order in Maxwell, Miller and [George] Bailey."
Kings XI's bowling has also been susceptible over the last two games, conceding 205 in the first game, and nearly 200 in the second and captain Bailey acknowledged his team needed a better performance from their bowlers.
"I do know that there are things that we can improve with our bowling, but I think they both have been really good batting wickets, so it's been challenging to work out exactly what a good score is," Bailey said.
"I guess we will start to learn more about that in the next couple of games. But ideally, you don't want to be chasing 200 or close to 200 every time you bat. It becomes difficult. I don't think we have seen the best of our bowling attack yet. So, we are just after consistency from our team."
At the other end, the Sunrisers will look for a much-improved performance after a convincing defeat to the Rajasthan Royals in their opening match. While Kings XI have been making merry with the bat, the Hyderabad side struggled to put runs on the board against RR, managing just 133, despite having a powerful top three of Shikhar Dhawan, Aaron Finch and David Warner.
"We are really happy with our preparations," Dhawan said on Monday. "We got a lot of positives to take from our first game where we did well as a bowling unit. Three or four of our batsmen were at the crease for a long time. It is just about getting that momentum right and we are excited for tomorrow's game."
