A spirited Punjab Kings side led by Shreyas Iyer will look to build on their impressive start to the Indian Premier League when they host an inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad at the New Chandigarh Cricket Stadium on April 11. PBKS are currently unbeaten in three matches, while SRH have struggled to find momentum, losing two of their three games so far.

Both teams possess explosive batting line-ups and will back themselves to outscore the opposition. PBKS, in particular, have made a statement with their chasing ability, first against Gujarat Titans and then against Chennai Super Kings, where they successfully chased down 210 at Chepauk.

SRH, meanwhile, have been hampered by underperforming stars who, on their day, are capable of dismantling any attack. Their campaign began with a loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, followed by a win over Kolkata Knight Riders, before another defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in Hyderabad.

IS IT GOING TO BE A BAT-OFF?

Shreyas Iyer’s side boasted one of the strongest batting units last season, reaching their first final in over a decade. Retaining most of that core, they have continued to thrive, with a few key additions strengthening the lineup further.

Opener and wicketkeeper Prabhsimran Singh, coming off a 500-plus run breakthrough season, emphasized that the team is focused on collective success rather than individual accolades like the Orange or Purple Cap. Cooper Connolly, brought in as a replacement for Josh Inglis, has cemented his place at No. 3, emerging as the team’s top scorer with 108 runs from two innings at a strike rate of 163.63. His unbeaten 72 in the opening match against Gujarat Titans was instrumental in guiding PBKS to victory.

On the other hand, SRH’s top order, featuring Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, has been inconsistent, delivering just one strong performance across three matches. Interim captain Ishan Kishan has also struggled for form, leaving much of the responsibility to Heinrich Klaasen and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. For SRH to challenge PBKS at home, they will need a collective improvement, particularly from Sharma.

VULNERABILITIES

PBKS’ lower middle order is yet to fire, and SRH will aim to exploit this by picking up early wickets. In pressure situations, much will depend on players like Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, and Marcus Stoinis. The Indian duo hasn’t had the best of domestic season coming into this seaosn’s IPL and thus look out-of-sorts at the moment.

SRH’s bowling unit has also underwhelmed, with experienced names like Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat failing to make a significant impact. Spinner Harsh Dubey has shown promise in the powerplay and will be expected to maintain his form. However, Unadkat endured a tough outing in the previous match, conceding 50 runs in just 23 balls. He will be eager to bounce back after failing to defend nine runs in the final over against LSG.

KEY MATCH-UPS

Yuzvendra Chahal has dismissed Heinrich Klaasen three times in nine T20 innings, but Klaasen still boasts an average of 45.33 and an impressive strike rate of 212.5 against the leg-spinner.

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has struggled against SRH’s Indian pacers, Jaydev Unadkat has dismissed him twice in three IPL innings, and Harshal Patel has got him out three times in four innings.

MULLANPUR: PITCH AND CONDITIONS

The New Chandigarh Stadium is one of the few venues in the tournament that offers some assistance to bowlers. Dew is likely to play a significant role, making the toss crucial, while the pitch is expected to be slightly sluggish. Despite both teams having powerful hitters, the conditions may require batters to build their innings rather than go all-out from the start.

Since 2024, the venue has seen an even split, with two wins each for teams batting first and chasing. In previous matches, spin has been relatively harder to score against, while fast bowlers have enjoyed a better runs-per-wicket ratio.

HEAD TO HEAD

Punjab Kings have struggled in their head-to-head record against Sunrisers Hyderabad, managing just seven wins in 24 meetings in IPL history. SRH have also dominated recent encounters, winning four of the last five. In their most recent clash last season, they chased down a daunting 246-run target in just 18.3 overs, powered by Abhishek Sharma’s record-breaking 141 off 55 balls. However, much has changed since then.

PROBABLE XIs

PBKS Probable XI: Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (C), Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

PBKS Impact Player: Priyansh Arya

SRH Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (C & WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel

SRH Impact Player: Eshan Malinga

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Mumbai: They had all come to watch Virat Kohli. They went away admiring Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The predominantly Royal Challengers Bengaluru-leaning Guwahati crowd shifted loyalties almost organically towards the home side, as soon as the pocket dynamo from Bihar began putting on a show during Rajasthan Royals’ chase of 202.

He showed scant respect to the league’s highest wicket-taking pace bowler to begin with. The speed at which Sooryavanshi slammed a Bhuvneshwar Kumar full length ball with his high back lift straight past the bowler was just a teaser. A battle against Josh Hazlewood, one of the great seam bowlers of our time, should have been a sterner test for the youngster but that’s not how it panned out.

Sooryavanshi offered the returning-from-injury Hazlewood the same welcome to the crease as he did to Jasprit Bumrah the other day. A maximum over deep point. Play the ball, not the bowler… Sooryavanshi had internalized the cricketing maxim.

His fourth over takedown of Hazlewood where he spanked the Australian fast bowler to all corners of the Baraspara Cricket stadium for three fours and a six was a conclusive reminder, if one was even needed, that Sooryavanshi was one among equals, belying his baby face and age.

Sooryavanshi went on to equal his season-fastest half-century when he got there in 15 balls. And by the time he holed out to Kohli’s hands at long on off Krunal Pandya, his 26-ball 78 with 8 fours and 7 sixes had gone a long way to swing the match in RR’s favour. They were 129/2 in 8.1 overs when the left-hander left. They lost a few wickets in a cluster but Dhruv Jurel (81 off 43 balls) saw them home to a six-wicket win.

Rain showers delayed the start of the match by an hour. Buoyed by a freshened pitch, Jofra Archer bent his back and let it rip. His first-ball dismissal of Phil Salt (0) was straight out of a Test match playbook: a lifter that got the batter ducking and sent him packing.

It didn’t seem to matter to the Guwahati crowd, who had come out in big numbers wearing RCB No.18. Kohli did not disappoint them in the early overs. It was trial by fire for him, facing good lengths with the ball deviating off the surface. An inside edge for four, an outside edge for a boundary. In between all that, he played some silken strokes and flowing boundaries. But the crowd favourite would soon have to leave after his 16-ball 32, when he fell to Ravi Bishnoi’s cunning angles and change of pace.

After starting with high pace and hard lengths, RR bowlers soon shifted to mix-ups and fingers rolling over the ball. Between Sandeep Sharma, Brijesh Sharma, spinners Bishnoi and Ravindra Jadeja, they chained down RCB with constant flow of wickets.

At 125/7 after 14 overs, RCB decided for themselves, 160 was not going to be enough. They activated Impact Sub Venkatesh Iyer at No.9. At the same time Rajat Patidar, who had been looking to take the match deep, was asked to switch gears.

With the in-form skipper leading, the Patidar-Iyer partnership produced 41 runs of 19 balls to keep the defending champions in the match. Iyer 29 (15*) finished the innings with a late dash in the last over to take RCB past 200.