We head to Mohali for the final time in this Indian Premier League season on Thursday when the Kings XI Punjab take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad for two valuable points as the competition continues apace.
The Sunrisers head the way alongside Kolkata Knight Riders in the early table but the Kings XI are not too far behind after an impressive start to the campaign. We have two form sides doing battle here which should make for a good contest.
Kings XI Punjab
Had it not been for a genius pacing of an innings from AB de Villiers, the Kings XI Punjab might well be three wins from three this season. As it is they have two wins from their three matches with both of those victories coming on this Mohali ground. With that in mind they will be sad to leave after this match but they have a chance of one last success here before the relocate to Indore.
The key to the success of the Punjab outfit has been their fast starts with the bat and their many spin options with the ball. In fact their whole attack has been expertly captained by Ravi Ashwin and a win here would lay out a real statement of intent. In an ideal world their middle order will get a few runs but there is plenty of time for that.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
The 2016 champions have played three matches and they have won them all. They have won them in different styles too. They have thrashed the Rajasthan Royals, crawled over the line against the Mumbai Indians and then stormed past Kolkata Knight Riders. They will be looking for a comprehensive performance here.
There is no doubt that the bowlers have for the job done for the Hyderabad side so far. They have played three matches, bowled first in all three, and are yet to concede 150 despite playing their matches in Hyderabad and Kolkata where the wicket is good for batting. Their own batting has been hit and miss but they’ve found ways to get the job done.
Team News
Kings XI Punjab found room for Chris Gayle in their last match and he delivered the goods in style. It might be that they are unchanged but with a pair of golden ducks Aaron Finch could be vulnerable especially with David Miller raring to go.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have an issue in their middle order with hardly anyone scoring runs apart from Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson. They have Alex Hales, Carlos Brathwaite and Chris Jordan waiting in the wings should they want to change.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
This has been a high scoring Indian Premier League so far but I’m not convinced that this one will be. The Sunrisers Hyderabad are yet to concede 150 in the tournament despite playing on two of the best three batting wickets in the competition but they have only really looked convincing with the bat on one occasion.
Kings XI Punjab have burst out of the gates with the bat but you would think they will struggle to go at two a ball off this Sunrisers attack. They might not need to though because there is a major weakness in the Sunrisers’ batting when it comes to playing spin. In the three matches they have played spin has accounted for 0-36 from six overs, 4-33 from six overs and 4-60 from 12 overs. In total against spin in this tournament they are 8-129 from 24 overs at an economy rate of 5.38 per over. Kings XI have Ravi Ashwin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Axar Patel, Yuvraj Singh and Aaron Finch who can all bowl spin so there is going to be plenty of it sent down. I think that all leads to a low scoring match where a runs line of 333.5 will be out of reach.
Tips
Back Under 333.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018
