Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have had a bad start to IPL 2021, with David Warner’s side losing their first three games.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad have started their IPL 2021 campaign on a disastrous note. David Warner’s team have lost their first three consecutive games for the first time in their history. Punjab Kings should have also lost three consecutive games, but they benefited from Sanju Samson’s misjudgment to win a close game by four runs. Their batting was shredded by seam bowling from Chennai Super Kings. Against Delhi Capitals, the bowling was taken to the sword.
Warner’s team have not helped themselves with constant changes. In the game against Mumbai Indians, they made four changes. Sunrisers Hyderabad have been hamstrung by their over-dependancy on Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Rashid Khan. The bowling has been solid but the batting has been a let-down. Manish Pandey has not stepped up. Kane Williamson’s injury has disturbed the balance.
On the other hand, Punjab Kings have solidity in both batting and bowling. However, they have not come together for a total performance. The likes of KL Rahul have not scored at a quick pace. Arshdeep Singh has been impressive but he has lacked support.
The contest between these two sides might give them a chance to get out of the bottom. However, if they want to stake a claim for the IPL title, they will have to stage a massive improvement in all facets.
Warner will be hoping that Williamson is fit and he can shore up the inexperienced middle order. On the other hand, Rahul will be hoping that both the batting and bowling click together. Sunrisers Hyderabad might make changes in the batting as well as the bowling, Punjab Kings might want to bolster their bowling department.
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Jalaj Saxena/Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Riley Meredith, Arshdeep Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jason Holder, Shahbaz Nadeem, Khaleel Ahmed/ T Natarajan
Match No.14: Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Venue: MA Chidambaram stadium, Chennai
Time: 3:30 PM IST
The weather in Chennai will be hot with a maximum of 33 degrees and a humidity of 65 percent. The pitch will be dry and it will assist the batsmen even more.
David Warner has been the scrouge of Punjab Kings. In 19 innings, he has smashed 906 runs. If he scores 91 more runs, he will be the first player to reach 1000 runs against one opponent.
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