IPL 2017, KXIP vs SRH: 5 winning factors
The Kings XI Punjab will take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad at their home ground, the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Friday. The two teams have played each other on four occasions previously with both of them winning two matches each. This year, both teams are in contention for a play-off spot with the Sunrisers Hyderabad placed at third and the Kings XI Punjab placed at fifth position on the points table.
However, the KXIP have played one game less and have registered three wins out of the seven matches they have played so far. SRH, on the other hand, have played 8 games, winning four and losing three with one game being washed out by rain.
Both the teams have been seen in superb form as a team so far. They have registered comprehensive victories while also really unlucky to end up on the losing side in games that went down to the wire. Although the Sunrisers Hyderabad look like a stronger side, Kings XI Punjab have the players to outplay any opposition on their day.
Let us now have a look at the five factors that will play a pivotal role in determining the winners of the match.
#1 With the bat
The hosts have a couple of in-form players with the bat in Hashim Amla and Glenn Maxwell and they will be relying heavily on them again to hide their other weaknesses in the batting department. Manan Vohra hasn’t done anything noticeable in the tournament except for that innings of 95 (50) against the same opposition, that almost took KXIP to the doors of victory in Hyderabad.
Their wicket-keeper batsman, Wriddhiman Saha hasn’t been in great form with the bat and that adds to their batting woes as well. The replacement of David Miller with Shaun Marsh in the playing XI hasn’t yet delivered the goods expected.
However, their all-rounder Axar Patel has looked in sublime touch with the bat down the order, playing a couple of handy knocks of 40+ runs. The KXIP have been doing well as a batting unit but they need to extract the most out of their middle order as soon as possible.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, have in-form players in their batting line-up. David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques and Yuvraj Singh have all registered at least one score of 50 to their name in this tournament so far and SRH will depend on them in their quest to make it to the play-offs.
The bulk of the scoring has been done by the top three batsmen like in the previous years. However, their lower middle order, with the likes of Naman Ojha and Deepak Hooda, hasn’t been tested yet. So, it remains to be seen how they fair when the top order fails to deliver, but the Sunrisers Hyderabad look like a stronger batting unit on paper and on form.