But at the end of it all, both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings have missed out on qualification for playoffs, even before their last league game, thanks to Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win over Gujarat Titans.
Both teams would look to sign off on a high, in what is a dead rubber, something that is not too usual in the IPL.
In the news
Likely XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Priyam Garg, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Fazalhaq Farooqi, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T Natarajan
Punjab Kings: 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa/Benny Howell, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Harpreet Brar, 8 Rishi Dhawan/Ishan Porel, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Arshdeep Singh
Strategy punt
Although Kings tend to bring Rahul Chahar into the attack a bit later in the innings, there could be a case of him coming on earlier against Sunrisers given he has dismissed Abhishek twice in two innings and Tripathi twice in four meetings. Moreover, that could mean he would not be on when Pooran walks out to bat as the left-hander has a strike rate of 154 against the legspinner.
Livingstone has been out to left-arm spin three times in the six innings he’s faced that type of bowling. Sunrisers could use Abhishek against him if they don’t get Jagadeesha Suchith in.
Stats that matter
- Punjab Kings’ scoring rate of 9.73 in the last four overs is the worst among teams in IPL 2022. Their economy rate of 9.28, though, in that phase is the least among the sides while Sunrisers are among the most expensive at 11.91
- Kagiso Rabada has picked up at least one wicket in 11 of the 12 innings he bowled in IPL 2022
- Kings have conceded the fewest sixes (16) in the last four overs this season while Sunrisers have hit the fewest (18) in the phase
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo