Punjab’s last three wins have come against top sides Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. Their skipper KL Rahul has displayed tremendous form with the bat. He remains the leading run-getter in IPL 2020 so far, having amassed 540 runs. Mayank Agarwal’s form has taken a bit of a dip, but he is still at the number three position with 398 runs. Nicholas Pooran has done an excellent job for KXIP, smashing the ball around while Chris Gayle’s entry into the playing eleven has also made a massive difference.
Their bowling remains a worry though as Mohammed Shami has been carrying the attack on his shoulders. Murugan Ashwin has provided him good support. The likes of Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi have displayed spark. KXIP would want things to fall together in this department.
SRH were impressive in their professional triumph over RR. Jason Holder’s inclusion gave the bowling a much-needed boost as he claimed excellent figures of 3 for 33. Rashid Khan has continued to impress, but T. Natarajan needs to rediscover some of his form.
In the batting, SRH would be pleased that despite David Warner and Jonny Bairstow’s early departure, they managed to chase down 155 courtesy Manish Pandey (83) and Vijay Shankar’s (52) unbroken 140-run stand for the third wicket.
Head-to-Head Record: The two teams have met 15 times in the IPL so far, and SRH have a massive 11-4 lead.
KXIP Predicted XI: KL Rahul (c, wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, James Neesham, M Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami
SRH Predicted XI: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem/Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan
Pitch Report
The wicket at Dubai is slow. Chasing is proving to be extremely difficult especially with no dew around.
Weather conditions
Temperature will be in the early 30s at the start. It will cool down as the game progresses.
--Renin Wilben