FANTASY
Follow UsPunjab Kings (PBKS) take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in match 14 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Chepauk Stadium, Chennai. SRH have gotten off to their worst start in IPL history, while PBKS, after escaping with a four-run win in the first match against Rajasthan Royals (RR), have lost the next two matches quite convincingly. Needless to say, both teams will be desperate for a win in this match.
SRH have been dominant against PBKS overall in the IPL, having won 11 of their 16 meetings. They also have a slender edge in the last five matches, having won three of them.
IPL HEAD-TO-HEAD
Overall - Matches – 16 | Punjab – 5 Wins | Hyderabad – 11 Wins
Last five games - Punjab – 2 Wins | Hyderabad – 3 Wins
SUGGESTED TEAMS
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms, we have come up with one team.
Ground Details
Out of the six matches in Chennai in IPL 2021 so far, five have been won by the team batting first. The only time a team chased down a target was when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) off the last ball of the match in the season opener. Keeping this in mind, it is clear that the captain winning the toss would want to bat first. But, given that this is a day game and the chances of dew coming in to play is a bare minimum, they could consider chasing as an option as well.
In the first day game of the season, RCB skipper Virat Kohli opted to bat and his side posted 204 against Kolkata Knight Riders and eventually won the game comfortably. With the wickets slowing down with each passing over, the sensible option could be to put runs on the board.
At the Chepauk this season, a wicket has fallen every 23.1 runs and 17.5 balls apart and the bowlers have conceded runs at an economy rate of 7.9. The pacers have been more of a dominant force having scalped over 62% of the wickets but the spinners too will come in handy as the game progresses.
Along with fiery pacers, a couple of quality spinners will do your team a world of good, which both teams have in abundance.
There could be a few interesting match-ups too
Chris Gayle has had a quiet tournament so far by his standards, having scored just 61 runs from his three innings and is certainly due a big one. He could be up against Rashid Khan in this match, who he has dismissed on four occasions in 10 innings – three of them coming in the last four innings. Overall, the burly West Indies batsman has had the upper hand having scored at a strike-rate of 169.3 but has scored just 26 runs from his last 18 deliveries against Rashid.
Mohammed Shami had a forgettable night against DC in the previous game conceding 53 runs from his four overs. Things do not get better for the India fast bowler when he is pitted against David Warner, who he has dismissed just once in seven innings and has conceded at a strike-rate in excess of 155.
Captain Suggestion
With two fifties in three matches, KL Rahul is a prime candidate to lead your team in this match. The PBKS skipper started the tournament off with an excellent 91 against RR and then in the previous game, he scored 61 to give his side a competitive total. Nobody has scored more runs in the IPL than Rahul since 2018, slamming 2,079 runs at 54.71 and a strike-rate of 140.50 in 45 innings, which includes 19 fifties and a couple of centuries.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Rahul could score 23-34 runs in this match.
X-Factors
David Warner has scored five IPL fifties since 2020, and one of them came against RCB in SRH’s second game of the season. Warner also got off to a start in the previous game against MI, but a brilliant piece of fielding cut his innings short. Warner has been one of the most reliable batsmen for SRH over the years and he will once again have to play a huge role to get his team off the mark this season.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Warner could score 23-34 runs in this match.
No T20 side is complete without Rashid Khan in the team. Rashid has already picked up four wickets from three matches this season already. While he went wicketless in the previous game, Rashid can’t keep someone of the quality of Rashid quiet for two continuous matches and given the slow nature of the surface in Chennai, we could see the Afghanistan tweaker make a mark in the game with a couple of vital scalps.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Rashid could pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.
While Deepak Hooda does not get the accolades he deserves, he remains a crucial part in the scheme of things for PBKS. He scored a 28-ball 64 in the first match and in the previous game, he scored an unbeaten 22 off 13 coming in at four to help PBKS to a decent total. His off-spinners too could come in handy on a surface like Chennai.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Hooda could score 14-21 runs and pick up 0-1 wickets in this match.
