The Punjab Kings will meet Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final league game of the Tata IPL 2022 schedule on Sunday night at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Both teams have already been eliminated from the Tata IPL 2022 knockouts and will play for pride and a sixth place finish in the points table.
Ahead of the encounter, below are a few points to note:
Journey so far
The Punjab Kings have seen alternating wins and losses this season, with six wins and seven losses from 13 games. In their most recent match, the team slumped to a 17-run defeat against the Delhi Capitals.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have seen streaks of wins and losses that have cost them a playoff spot. After two losses to begin, the team won five matches in a row, followed by five more losses until the previous game, where they got the better of MI by just three runs.
PBKS - L, W, L, W, L
SRH - L, L, L, L, W
PBKS’ big-hitters vs SRH’s pacers
The Punjab Kings have a solid set of big-hitters who have delivered some noteworthy performances. In the previous game between PBKS and SRH, Liam Livingstone scored a blazing 60 (33). Jitesh Sharma has consistently scored above a 30-run average and at a strike rate of 158.
SRH, on the other hand, boast of a bowling line-up where speed is key. Umran Malik clocked over 150kmph multiple times and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been precise with his bowling. Marco Jansen and T Natarajan started strong but have recently been on the expensive side for the team.
Previous encounter between the teams
The last time the two teams met in the tournament was just over a month ago, when, despite a great show from Livingstone, Malik’s four-wicket haul and Kumar’s three wicket-haul made it SRH’s game.
Sunrisers Hyderabad chased down a total of 151 with seven deliveries left to win the game by seven wickets at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium.
Playing at the Wankhede
The Punjab Kings have played three matches at the Wankhede Stadium in this season so far and have won one of them, against the Chennai Super Kings, by 11 runs. In all three games, the Kings batted first.
SRH have also played three matches at the Wankhede and won just one - the previous game against MI by three runs. In the other two games, they lost to RCB and GT by 67 runs and five wickets respectively.
This match is the 70th of this season and marks the conclusion of the group stage of the Tata IPL. The knockouts are scheduled from Tuesday, May 24 onwards, with the final being held on Sunday, May 29.
