Two of the lower ranked sides meet in the Indian Premier League clash on Thursday when the Sunrisers Hyderabad take on the Kings XI Punjab in a match which carries plenty of importance for both teams.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad go into this Dubai duel in better shape than the Kings XI Punjab but there hasn’t been a huge amount to write about for either team so far this season. As we know though this is all about how you finish so there is still time to get something going.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
It has been an up and down campaign for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. It began slowly with a couple of defeats but then they looked to find something of a groove when winning their next two matches only to come out on the wrong end of a Sharjah slogfest in their latest outing. That can happen to any team so we shouldn’t be too down on them but there will be a focus to get back on track here and not suffer another defeat.
The Sunrisers were a little too reliant on their opening pair at the start of the season but as we have gone along they have found a settled batting order that can deliver the goods. Unfortunately that has come with a slackening in their bowling attack and that is something they could do with patching up if they are to go deep in the tournament. The injury to Bhuvneshwar Kumar isn’t going to help in that respect.
Kings XI Punjab
It has been a season to forget for the Kings XI Punjab so far. They have just one win from their five matches and apart from their opening match when they somehow didn’t get over the line despite needing one run from their last three balls, they haven’t really been competitive in the matches they have lost. Their last two defeats have been by 48 runs and 10 wickets so they haven’t even been in those games which is a real concern.
If there is a good thing for the Kings XI then it comes in the form of the fact that they don’t need to search too hard to work out where they need to improve. They have been terrible with the ball this season, particularly at the death, but in truth throughout the innings and that has to change. I think they’ve given the current personnel enough time to change but it hasn’t happened so I would be surprised if they don’t bring some reinforcements in with Mujeeb Ur Rahman an obvious candidate.
Special Offer
Sign up for an account on the Betfair Exchange and get a free £20 risk free bet to use on the IPL! Click the image below to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. New accounts only. Gamble Aware.
New customers only, bet up to £20 on the Exchange and if your first bet loses, we’ll refund you £20 in Cash. Bet must be placed in first 7 days of account opening. Click the above image to bet. T&Cs apply. Payment restrictions apply.
Key Men
The Sunrisers look much more settled with the bat at the minute which means that as long as they bowl well they should be in control of the game. That makes Rashid Khan a key man. He is the leader of the attack and needs to come to the fore.
Kings XI also look fine with the bat but they have been horrendous with the ball. Mohammad Shami started the tournament in good nick and they could do with him being at his best in order to get out on top here.
Betting
Given that both these bowling attacks are just starting to lose traction this term, or in the case of the Kings XI Punjab never had it to lose, I’ve got to think this will be a high scoring match. We’ve seen the pitches in Dubai play pretty well and the boundaries have been accessible throughout the contests here and I certainly don’t see that changing. I don’t see a shortage of boundaries here either especially now the Sunrisers have found some sort of batting groove.
In terms of the match itself it is hard to go against the Sunrisers Hyderabad but I wouldn’t want them to be defending a score against a team who are batting superbly and who have plenty of danger in their ranks. The safer bet at a slightly shorter price is to focus on the boundaries where the line is 38.5 which feels low when you consider we were betting 39.5 in the previous match on the harder of the three grounds to hit boundaries on. We’ve seen so far that there are likely to be plenty of poor balls and there are more than enough batsmen to hit them to the boundary. I like the over here.
Tips
WON – Back Over 38.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with William Hill
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
