IPL 2020, KXIP vs SRH: Preview, Dream11 and stats
Kings XI Punjab have been superb in their previous three matches, beating the top three teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 season. The KL Rahul-led side were struggling at the bottom prior to that and come in now as the in-form side. Meanwhile, their opponent on Saturday, Sunrisers Hyderabad, will be aiming to disrupt their progression. Here's the preview.
In the previous meeting between the two sides, an all-round SRH team got the better of KXIP. Englishman Jonny Bairstow's stroke-filled 97 helped SRH post 201/6 in 20 overs. Meanwhile, David Warner also slammed a fifty. In reply, KXIP (132/10) failed to chase down the target as Nicholas Pooran played a lone hand.
The biggest story this season has been the resurgence of KXIP after a position of bother. Bating the RCB, MI and DC in quick succession will boost their morale. KXIP have the resources to come good and need the consistency factor going. Meanwhile, SRH breezed past RR on Thursday and it's their sound bowling that could aid them. The front three need to score.
KXIP - KL Rahul (c & wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh. SRH - David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Abdul Samad, Vijay Shankar, Priyam Garg, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed.
KL Rahul, who has registered five fifties and one century in 10 matches this season, is 60 shy of the 600-run mark. Mayank Agarwal (1,664) needs 24 to get past Kumar Sangakkara (1,687). Glenn Maxwell needs 13 more to register 1,500 IPL runs. Mohammed Shami (56) is two shy of surpassing Shane Warne's wickets tally (57). Head-to-head record: Matches 15, SRH 11, KXIP 4.
Dream11 team prediction: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Manish Pandey (vc), Vijay Shankar, Jason holder, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, T Natarajan. The match is set to start at 7:30 PM IST. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on Hotstar app (paid subscription). Venue: Dubai.
