SRH vs PBKS: The final league match of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League will be played on Sunday. A two-month long tournament has almost come to its end. Four teams will now try their luck to win the prestigious IPL title. At 7:30 pm, Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium, which will be the last IPL match on this ground.
After a wait of almost two months, both teams are at that stage where they were so close to making the playoffs. Both have won six matches each and, with 12 points, have been eliminated from the competition. So let’s check the complete details of the match and possible XI for both teams.
SRH vs PBKS: Match Preview and Prediction
Sunrisers Hyderabad
After the first seven matches for all the teams, SRH was sitting in the second spot on the points table. It appeared that they would finish the league stage in the top two positions. But no one would have thought that they would feel like the pack of cards in the coming matches. Since then, SRH has won only one match in six games. That is the biggest reason for their downhill this season.
However, there is no benefit to thinking of the past; they can just do one thing to end on a winning note. SRH showed a really good fight in the last game against MI and won that match. So that will give them confidence. But skipper Kane Williamson has left the team, so it will be interesting to see who will lead the team in the last match. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be the person who can do that job.
Probably XI: Abhishek Sharma, Priyam Garg, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (c), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Umran Malik, T Natarajan/Kartik Tyagi
Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings started the season with a bang and looked like a true contender for this season. But no one expected them to be so inconsistent throughout the season. They haven’t won two consecutive matches this season. Out of 13 matches, they have six wins and seven defeats under their belt. They lost the must-win game against the Delhi Capitals and got eliminated.
There is now no option left for them to qualify further. So, at least they will play for their pride to win their last match of the season. So they need to regress one more time and show their best so that they can come back next season with some more intent. One of the biggest reasons for their poor performance is that their star players didn’t come to the party at the right time. However, with such a dangerous batting lineup, we can expect some fireworks in the last match.
Probably XI: Jonny Bairstow, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa/Shahrukh Khan, Liam Livingstone, Mayank Agarwal (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
SRH vs PBKS Match, Pitch and Toss Update
The pitch at Wankhede is always good for the pace bowlers at the start. Overall, it is a complete batting surface. Batsmen can play their shots on the up without thinking about any uneven bounce. Average score at this pitch is 170. The toss becomes crucial in the T20 game, as winning the toss will give an extra edge. Team winning the toss should field first, as chasing will be easier than batting first. The team batting second has won nine out of 14 matches on this pitch this season.
SRH vs PBKS: Head to Head
Both teams have met a total of 18 times in the history of the IPL. But SRH is totally dominating Punjab in terms of wins. So far, Sunrisers Hyderabad have won 13 matches, as compared to PBKS’s 5 wins. SRH also won the last match between the two by seven wickets earlier this season.
IPL 2022: SRH vs PBKS: Players to watch out for
Rahul Tripathi will be the man to watch out for. This uncapped Indian batter has scored the most runs at No. 3 this season with the highest strike rate. He was the “Man of the Match” in the last match with a blistering knock of 76. So far, he has scored 393 runs at an average and strike rate of 39.30 and 161.72, respectively, including three half-centuries.
Umran Malik is the pace machine of this season and with his accuracy, he is just unplayable. He took three wickets in the last match and is in fourth place among the list of highest wicket-takers. Umran has picked up 21 wickets so far in 13 matches, and will look to end the season with a few more wickets.
Shikhar Dhawan would like to end the season with a high score because he might be leading the team soon against South Africa. The veteran opening batsman is fifth on the list of the highest run-scorers. He has scored 421 runs in 13 innings at an average and strike rate of 38.27 and 122.74.
Kagiso Rabada will be our pick from the Punjab bowling lineup. He has shown good form and is bowling well. The pacer also bowled decently when these two teams met last time. He is the third highest wicket-taker this season with 22 wickets.
IPL 2022: Playing 11 team of the match Prediction
Wicket-keeper: Jonny Bairstow (PBKS), Nicholas Pooran (SRH)
Batsmen: Shikhard Dhawan (PBKS), Abhishek Sharma (SRH), Priyam Garg (SRH), Rahul Tripathi (SRH)
All-rounders: Aiden Markram (SRH), Liam Livingstone (PBKS)
Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada (PBKS), Rahul Chahar (PBKS), Umran Malik (SRH)
Tips: Jonny Bairstow or Shikhar Dhawan will be the captain of the team. Rahul Tripathi or Abhishek Sharma will be the vice-captain. Both teams are out of the championship but will look to end on a high. With no Williamson in the team, SRH might fall in terms of captaincy tactics. So we will back Punjab Kings to win the match. However, the team winning the toss might win the game as well.