Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad is desperate to arrest the worrying slide and will be eager to make a turnaround when they host a fully electric Punjab king in their next IPL engagement on Saturday.
Last season’s finalists, SRH started their 2025 campaign with a thunderous tone and defeated the Rajasthan Royals’ Mammoth 286 with 44 runs.
With an explosive batting lineup, the Orange Army seemed ready to be the first team to violate the 300 mark, but their super aggressive approach has since backfired.
In their last three games, their full attack strategy produced a huge total of 163, 120 and 152 with the bats, resulting in overwhelming defeats and putting them in a strait at the bottom of the points table. As of today, their worst net running rate is -1.629.
With the bat, Sunrisers Hyderabad needs more than famous people like Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen.
Head and Sharma played a crucial role in the explosive start of last season and failed to find their own pace this year. In fact, by far the best open booths at SRH are a trivial 15
Head’s performance dropped sharply, returning scores of 67, 47, 22, 4 and 8. Abhishek also struggled to win consistency, scoring only 24 top scores in 5 innings.
Kishan looks like a shadow of himself after unbeaten in the opener, while SRH’s intermediate lieutenant Klaasen has not caught fire yet.
However, the team seems committed to sticking to its positive blueprint. Head coach Daniel Vettori stressed the need for better game awareness, rather than a philosophical shift following the last failure.
“I think we know this style will work, but we have to respect the conditions, we have to evaluate very well, and that’s probably something we haven’t done,” Vettori said.
Although SRH’s misfire hitting lineup has dominated post-game discussions, their bowling department has not fully illuminated the game either.
The pace attack failed to have any meaningful impact. Despite the presence of experienced athletes such as Pat Cummins, Mohammed Shami and Harshal Patel, the SRH is still working to attack early.
The struggle continues to the middle, where they fail to form pressure or demand a critical breakthrough.
In stark contrast, the Punjab kings waved early momentum under the new leadership of Shreyas Iyer.
The Indian star showed impressive tactical efforts with Bats leading from the front, guiding his team to three wins in four games as they sat in the fourth place at the table.
The young feeling Priyansh Arya increased their firepower. The rookie opener has brought fans and critics against CSK in a stunning century, and most are struggling to move forward.
And Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal and Marco Jansen did well in the bowling department.
Head-to-head record
Both teams competed in 28 matches, with the Hyderabad Suns exhibitors taking over 16 victories. The Punjab Kings won seven victories. In their last encounter, SRH won four wicket victories.
In addition, the statistics of Ragiv Gandhi International Cricket Ground also supported the home court with an 8-1 record.
Bonus probability
Hyderabad’s stadiums are often friendly with short (comparative) borders. With a good home court advantage, Pat Cummins will have a little advantage in the aspect of leadership. But, given the team’s motivation, Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab looks more balanced and confident.
Punjab won three of three of four matches with batting and bowling, while last season’s runner-up struggled in all units.
The Punjab kings will gain the benefits of confidence and balance, but if Hyderabad can re-execute their plans, they can take the game away.
team:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Atharva Taide, Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby, Heinrich Klaasen, Travis Head, Harshal Patel, Kamindu Mendis, Wiaan Mulder, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar, Adam Zampa, Simarjeet Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat and Eshan Malinga.
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Kuldeep Sen, Pyla Avinash, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Harnoor Pannu, Aaron Hardie, Priyansh Arya, Azmatullah Omarzai
Competition start: 7.30pm.
