Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) were down and out after only a solitary victory in their first seven games. KL Rahul and Co were languishing at the bottom of the points table. However, the team have won their last three games and have moved up to fifth.
In all the three instances, they put forth decent shows while batting second. It goes without saying that KXIP have managed to find their mojo for the event. They will next be facing the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday, October 24 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
In their previous meeting, Nicholas Pooran’s half-century could not take KXIP over the line. Moreover, the Sunrisers are in excellent form as they are coming off an eight-wicket victory over Steve Smith’s Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday, October 22 in Dubai itself.
Pitch and Conditions
The pitch in Dubai has been good for batting. But unlike the first few games, when teams batting first were winning one game after the other, the trends have changed. The chasing sides have also started to taste quite a significant amount of success.
The conditions in Dubai will be warm with the temperature around 31 degrees Celsius. The humidity will mostly be in the high-30s.
Playing Combinations for KXIP vs SRH
Kings XI Punjab
Probable XI
KL Rahul (C & WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Probable XI
Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson/Jason Holder/Mohammad Nabi, Priyam Garg, David Warner (C), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan, Basil Thampi
Probable Top Performers for KXIP vs SRH
Chris Gayle– Kings XI Punjab
Chris Gayle hasn’t looked rusty thus far after having to warm the benches for the first seven matches. Though he looked out of sorts in the game against RCB, once he started finding the middle of the bat, there was no stopping the big man from Jamaica.
The other day in Dubai, the southpaw was also severe on fast bowler Tushar Deshpande. He is expected to play a crucial role even in the next game.
David Warner– Sunrisers Hyderabad
David Warner hasn’t had the best of tournaments thus far, going by the high standards he has set over the last few years. This season, he has batted both as an opener and in the middle-order.
In the last match against the Royals, he fell cheaply to Jofra Archer, but he isn’t short of class by any means. The last time when KXIP faced SRH, Warner had a decent outing and he will look for something similar.
KXIP vs SRH Head to Head
Overall
Played- 15 |KXIP won- 4 | SRH won- 11 | N/R- 0
At neutral venues (outside India)
Played- 2 | KXIP won- 1 | SRH won- 1 | N/R- 0
Average first innings score: 173 (18 matches in IPL 2020)
Record of chasing teams: Won- 6 | Lost- 12
Broadcast Details
Match timings – 06:00 PM local time, 07:30 PM IST
TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Select, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 1 Select HD, and Star Sports 1 HD Hindi.
Live Streaming – The match can be streamed online on Disney + Hotstar VIP.