IPL 2023, SRH vs PBKS: Decoding the key player battles
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will meet Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 14 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Both sides have made contrasting starts to their campaigns. PBKS defeated Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals in their first two games. Meanwhile, SRH suffered humiliating defeats in their first couple of assignments this season. Here are the player battles that can be on display.
Shikhar Dhawan vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Shikhar Dhawan scored an unbeaten 86 in his last outing and won't mind replicating his heroics. The PBKS skipper would be challenged by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who owns the most powerplay wickets in IPL (58). Bhuvneshwar has dismissed Dhawan twice in 11 IPL meetings. He has also managed to keep Dhawan at bay as the latter has a strike rate of 92.59 in this battle.
Jitesh Sharma vs Adil Rashid
Jitesh Sharma made valuable twenties in PBKS's first two games. He has aced the role of finisher lately. The dasher might be up against the leg-spin of Adil Rashid in the middle overs. Notably, leggies has dismissed Jitesh twice in six IPL meetings. The latter, however, strikes at 244 against them. Adil has dismissed right-handers 167 times in 206 T20 innings.
Mayank Agarwal vs Arshdeep Singh
Having scored 27 and eight in his previous two outings, Mayank Agarwal would be raring to make a significant mark. As he opens the innings, the batter is bound to tackle Arshdeep Singh in the powerplay overs. As Mayank was with PBKS till last season, he hasn't faced the youngster before in IPL. Left-arm pacers have dismissed Mayank 14 times in 46 IPL meetings.
Aiden Markram vs Rahul Chahar
SRH skipper Aiden Markram was dismissed for a golden duck in his previous outing. He would be raring to make amends against PBKS, who might rely on Rahul Chahar to tackle Markram. Notably, the South African dasher has fallen prey to leggies 13 times in 37 T20 innings. Even Chahar has dismissed him once in two IPL meetings.
Pitch report, timing and streaming details
Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium will host this game on Sunday (April 9). There are a lot of runs for the batters on this pitch. Spinners will also get some help as the match progresses. 7.9 is the average run rate for teams batting first here. Star Sports Network will telecast the match, while fans can also live-stream it on JioCinema from 7:30pm onward.
