Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Predictions: IPL 14th Match Preview

It’s truly amazing just how much damage one misguided player can do to a team, and KL Rahul is the living manifestation of that concept. Long-time readers of our site will know that I am not fond of Mr Strike-rate-is-overrated when he plays for Punjab Kings, and after a strong performance earlier in the season, he once again proved last match that I have no reason to change my mind. Now the Kings are only above last place because Sunrisers Hyderabad are doing even worse, and that might just change because the Sunrisers are exactly whom they’ll face in their next match. SRH are yet to win a match, and the hunger for a win must be even more powerful than those of Kane Williamson and David Warner when they fasted for Ramadan with Rashid Khan. Before the two teams lock horns, let’s take a look at how they’ve been doing.

Punjab Kings

Predicted XI vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

KL Rahul (c/wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Dawid Malan, Arshdeep Singh, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Jalaj Saxena, Deepak Hooda, Jhye Richardson, Mohammad Shami.

Punjab Kings team preview and form

If PBKS want to succeed, they badly need to change two things: their captain’s mentality and their team selection. Nicholas Pooran and Chris Gayle are both similarly inconsistent, and there’s only spare for one of those, with Dawid Malan or Moises Henriques both good potential replacements for the other. Batting first against Delhi Capitals, PBKS got off to a fantastic start with Mayank Agarwal getting a nice 69 off just 36. Unfortunately for him and for PBKS, his partner KL Rahul scored 61 off of 51 to slow things down, and whereas Punjab should definitely have gotten 200+ given the kind of cameos they got from Deepak Hooda and Shahrukh Khan, they had to settle for 195. On the defense, Arshdeep Singh was the only bowler able to keep things relatively tidy with 3-0-22-1. Jhye Richardson may have gotten two, but he was smacked around the park like just about everyone else, and the Kings lost by 6 wickets.

Punjab Kings key players vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

KL Rahul: Whether slowly or not, chances are KL will get the runs.

Dawid Malan: We strongly believe the Englishman will be making an appearance next game, and he’ll make a good one.

Arshdeep Singh: The most consistent bowler in the side, Arshdeep will have to do even better to help his team slide on through.

Jhye Richardson: The Aussie quick is having trouble adjusting to subcontinental conditions, but still managing to take wickets.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Predicted XI vs Punjab Kings

David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Virat Singh, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Thangarasu Natarajan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Sunrisers Hyderabad team preview and form

With Kane Williamson finally providing an injury update that says he will most likely be out for another 5 days or so, the Sunrisers have little hope of gaining on their opponents barring some spectacular individual performances. Bowling first against Mumbai Indians, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Vijay Shankar took two wickets each and most other bowlers kept things tidy to make sure their target was a modest 151. On the chase, however, a decent opening stand of 67 (Warner 36 off 34, Bairstow 43 off 22) was followed by a horrific collapse, with Vijay Shankar’s 28 the only other respectable score. Eventually, the Sunrisers lost the match by 13 runs with 2 balls to go.

Sunrisers Hyderabad key players vs Punjab Kings

David Warner: Warner will have to play bigger and better innings to get his team to get started.

Jonny Bairstow: The Englishman has shown plenty of firepower in his stroke play. 

Rashid Khan: The Afghan hasn’t been striking as much as he used to owing to the fact that batsmen are a lot more careful when facing him.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman: Another Afghan who has the ability to turn a match on its head with his spin.

Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad pitch report and weather conditions

Although Royal Challengers Bangalore scored a massive 204 at the MA Chidambaram in their last match, Chennai is far from an ideal ground for batting. Spinners will rule the roost, and batters will struggle to find their timing. Expect the team winning the toss to quite possibly choose to bat, as the Chennai pitch slows down later on, and the 3:30PM match doesn’t overlap with dew hours.

As has been the case for virtually all of this tournament, it will be a hot day with no rain and moderate humidity. There will be a strong breeze in the afternoon, but nothing game-changing.

Can the Kings bounce back after their double defeat? Or will the Sunrisers finally get started on gathering points? Find out if our Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad predictions come true on