Kings XI Punjab V Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV, Preview

Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad square off in the Indian Premier League on Monday. Both sides have struggled this season and need to kick on in order to alleviate some of the pressure in the latter stages of the tournament.

Date: Monday, April 27

Time: 8 p.m. local / 3:30 p.m. BST

Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Weather: Day temperatures will rise to around 37 degrees Celsius, according to AccuWeather.com. Luckily the match is at night time, with things cooling down quite a bit. A lot of the stickiness is likely to remain and there could be quite a bit of dew around, which will make it even more difficult for the team bowling second.

TV Info and Live Stream: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), Sky Sports (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN (UAE) SkyTV ( New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omini (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore)

Overview

Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab have the exact same win/loss record in the Indian Premier League thus far, but Kings XI sit stone last in the table due to their net run rate. Last year’s runners-up haven’t quite been able to replicate their spectacular form from last year and their batsmen have been woefully inconsistent. Just three have managed half-centuries and nobody has scored more than 65 in an innings.

Sunrisers' batsmen haven't exactly fared much better. Just two have scored half-centuries, with David Warner being the most consistent of the lot, with three fifties to his name and 259 runs in total.

When chasing, Sunrisers have been poor in stringing together partnerships and they just haven’t managed to get any momentum going during this campaign.

Sunrisers Hyderabad are under no illusions that they need to step it up. KL Rahul said in an interview with IPLt20.com that the middle order needs to start performing:

"

The middle order has to wake up and get runs for the team. If the middle order keeps batting like this then there is going to be too much pressure on Warner and Dhawan at the top of the order. There is firepower in the middle order with Ravi Bopara and Naman Ojha who can hit the ball, but we just have not been able to click well as a batting unit. It is something that we need to work on. We still have games left in the competition and it will be good if we can learn our lessons, pull up our socks and put in better performances for the team. That is what we need from the middle order.

"

Both teams have seen decent efforts from their bowlers but something has got to give for these two teams. It’s not crunch time in this tournament just yet, but another loss for either team will pile the pressure on. For Kings XI, they not only need to win but desperately need to improve their woeful net run rate.

Both sides are fresh off some big losses on Saturday, with Sunrisers losing by 20 runs to Mumbai Indians and Kings XI stuttering to a 97-run loss against Chennai Super Kings. But Kings XI have also won some brilliant games under pressure, most recently, winning in a Super Over against Rajasthan Royals.

Finding some consistency is key at this stage of the tournament, and both sides will want their big-name batsmen to come good. Considering both sides have been so inconsistent, it’s nigh on impossible to pick a favourite or even a winner. If both teams play to their full potential, though, it could be a cracker.

Key players

Kings XI Punjab

David Miller hasn't had a great tournament, but he has shown in recent times that he is more than just a finisher. With Kings XI's top order batsmen consistently stuttering, Miller has an opportunity to make a statement.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Buvneshwar Kumar has picked up seven wickets at an average of 22.42 in six matches thus far. He is a great exponent of swing and with Kings XI’s batsmen not exactly in fine fettle, Kumar has the perfect opportunity make an impact up front.

Squads

Kings XI Punjab: Axar Patel, Anureet Singh, Beuran Hendricks, David Miller, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Karanveer Singh, Manan Vohra, Mitchell Johnson, Parvinder Awana, Rishi Dhawan, Sandeep Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Shaun Marsh, Shivam Sharma, Thisara Perera, Virender Sehwag, Wriddhiman Saha, Murali Vijay, Nikhil Naik, Yogesh Golwalkar

Sunrisers Hydearbad: Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, David Warner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Moises Henriques, Lokesh Rahul, Parvez Rasool, Naman Ojha, Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Chama Milind, Karn Sharma, Kane Williamson, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Bipul Sharma, Trent Boult, Praveen Kumar, Hanuma Vihari, Prasanth Padmanabhan, Siddarth Kaul