The State of Play
Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad will be looking to pick up where they left off when both teams seek second successive wins to lift them above midtable in the early IPL 2024 standings.
Facing a target of 200 against Gujarat Titans on Friday, the Kings won by three wickets with one ball remaining as Shashank Singh hit 61 off 29 balls, including four sixes along the way.
Ashutosh Sharma added 31 and Prabhsimran Singh 35, while Kagiso Rabada had taken his wickets total to six with figures of 2/44.
The victory was much-needed for Trevor Bayliss’ team, who won their opener against the Delhi Capitals by four wickets – helped by 63 runs from Sam Curran – but lost their subsequent games to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants.
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SRH have followed lows with eye-catching highs, losing to Kolkata Knight Riders but shattering the highest ever team total in the IPL with 277/3 in their victory over the Mumbai Indians.
A seven-wicket home defeat to the Gujarat Titans brought the team who finished bottom last season back down to earth, but they responded with a six-wicket win at Chennai Super Kings, including 50 for captain Aiden Markram.
They are above PK by virtue of a superior run rate, having also exceeded 200 in that four-run defeat to KKR.
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Expected line-ups
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Prabsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Shahbaz Ahmed, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande
POV: You are 𝐕𝐈𝐃nessing a speedster at work! 🤌#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #JazbaHaiPunjab #TATAIPL2024 pic.twitter.com/pWFBp1rUkw
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 8, 2024
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live.
Tuesday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.50pm BST.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
The pre-match vibes in Mullanpur 🔝👌 pic.twitter.com/F1a3LNbFoN
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 8, 2024
Prediction
On a Maharaja Yadavindra Singh pitch which which has produced high scores so far, SRH’s batting line-up stands out as a balance-tipper.
Their big-hitters have been in good form, with Abhishek Sharma hitting 100 across their two wins and Travis Head reaching a combined 93 in those games.
Heinrich Klaasen averaged almost 50 last season and posted an unbeaten 80 off 34 deliveries against MI. The South African could profit against opponents whose bowlers are yet to shine.
