Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad are set to lock horns once again within just a week. Punjab was the team that pushed the latter into the tide of problems. A team, that had a flying start with three back-to-back wins from their first three matches in the tournament, was brought back to the ground by the men led by Ashwin.

Kings XI Punjab, on the other hand, were quick to sort out their problems after winning one and losing one of their first two games in the competition. They then brought Chris Gayle into the playing XI and haven’t looked back ever since.

Ravichandran Ashwin & co. now have four wins on the trot after tasting their only defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore. They have become the team to beat after putting on some stunning performances, in all departments, against the likes of Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Their bowling unit again came together to grab a win for the team against Mumbai Indians last time. The equation has become very simple for the Hyderabad-based franchise; they win when their bowlers perform well. But that also has made things complicated for the team as their batsmen haven’t been able to team up well despite spending almost half of the season so far.

Kane Williamson has poured his heart and soul in handling the team and its batting line-up. However, the batsmen have to take the onus on them equally and help their captain execute his plans even better.

Their batting performance against MI, in the last match, was awful and it’s time they put more effort in bettering their middle-order batting.

Bhuvneshwar’s participation is still in doubt and if the pacer comes back then Basil Thampi will have to make way for him.

Although in the last between the two teams, two world-class spinners like Shakib Al hasan, Rashid Khan were smashed for some big hits by an explosive Gayle, they have gained their confidence back after their performances against Mumbai and will look to repeat the same performance tonight.

Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul

Kings XI Punjab

KXIP have worked as a team to diminish the flaws they have. While Aaron Finch and Yuvraj Singh haven’t been able to come up with their best selves, Gayle and KL Rahul’s sparkling starts haven’t let the team from it that much.

The other batsmen also have done their job magnificently by carrying the momentum the openers give them. Their bowling unit has also shown its capability when the team couldn’t hit the par with their batting in the last game. They were also very effective in defending almost every kind of score the batters put on the scoreboard.

Chris Gayle is expected to return to the starting XI and Aaron Finch could be axed from the side ahead of this game.