3 player battles to watch out for in SRH vs PBKS, Match 69 of IPL 2024 ft. Pat Cummins vs Rilee Rossouw
SunRisers Hyderabad take on Punjab Kings in the 69th match of IPL 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad on May 19, Sunday.
This day-and-night encounter will be the last that these two sides play in the league phase of the tournament, with SRH already having qualified for the playoffs.
PBKS, however, have not had a good run this season, and are perched upon the ninth position of the table with ten points inside their kitty. They will be keen on picking up another win and bagging twelve points in total.
SRH have been in red-hot form this season and will be extremely difficult to topple, especially at home. They are one of the favourites to win the IPL this season, and PBKS have a challenging task on their hands.
In this listicle, we take a look at three key player battles to watch out for in this game:
#1. Travis Head vs Arshdeep Singh
One of the biggest battles in this game will be the one between SRH opener Travis Head and PBKS seamer Arshdeep Singh.
While Head is expected to go at it from ball one and throw Arshdeep off his mark, the latter is experienced enough to know what is expected of him in such a game.
The left-arm seamer is primarily known for bowling yorkers in the death, but his ability to swing the ball inside the powerplay has not gone unnoticed either.
Head will have to hold his shape well to hit Arshdeep, and it is by no means going to be an easy task.
The Aussie southpaw has taken the IPL by storm this season and will be keen on doing so in front of the SRH home crowd at Uppal for one last time on Sunday.
#2. Pat Cummins vs Rilee Rossouw
SRH skipper Pat Cummins will be licking his lips in anticipation of having a go at South African batter Rilee Rossouw, who plies his trade for PBKS in the IPL in this tournament.
Cummins is known to hit the good length area regularly and let the surface work on his behalf, but this is exactly what Rossouw will want as well.
The southpaw is known to hit balls pitched in all areas indiscriminately across the ground and will want to do the same on Sunday.
Cummins will have to improvise a lot and bowl his slower bouncers in order to keep Rossouw in check in this game, although it is not going to be an easy task, as the surface in Uppal is bound to be a placid one.
#3. Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Shashank Singh
SRH seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has earmarked himself as being one of the best in the business both when the ball is new and old, will come up with a good challenge on Sunday.
Shashank Singh, who is a famed finisher for PBKS, will want to tuck into him when the two come across each other towards the fag end of this game.
Although Shashank has not been in the best of forms of late, he will be extremely keen on putting up a good show against his former franchise SRH.
Bhuvneshwar, however, is a master at what he does and will be keen on testing the Chattisgarh batter with his slower deliveries and cutters, not to mention the wide yorkers.