IPL 2024 PBKS vs SRH Preview - 2 sides seeking greater consistency

Key match stats

Pitch Stats – Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium IPL records

Pitch stats from the 10 most recent IPL matches played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium

Team form PBKS vs SRH
PBKS: WLLW
SRH: WLWL

Recent meetings: IPL 2023 - SRH won by 8 wickets

Weather

General Forecast: Dry and Clear
Chance of dew: Low

Preview PBKS vs SRH

As we head into a week that will see the teams complete their 5th fixture of the tournament, it's time to reflect on which sides have had a good start to the season and which haven't.

For these 2 franchises, a 3rd win would put them in a good position to push for a play-off spot next month. However, the inconsistency of both sides not just this year but for several seasons prior still makes it very difficult to really bank on them achieving that feat regardless of today's result.

Punjab came back from the dead to win their last game against GT. At 70 for 4 and with a largely inexperienced and unheralded middle order it looked likely that they'd slip to a fairly tame defeat at the Narendra Modi. Then came Shashank Singh, the man that PBKS accidentally purchased at the auction in December!

He hit a brilliant 61 off 29 balls to record his maiden IPL half century and complete a dramatic turn-around not only in the match but also in his career having been a bit of a laughing stock just 4 months ago.

SRH meanwhile continued their power hitting while the field restrictions remained in place with Abishek Sharma's cameo of 37 off 12 breaking the back of the run chase against CSK. I'd criticised the inability of the Sunrisers' batsmen to play a substanial innings in their defeat against GT so Aiden Markram deserves credit for his half-century on a pitch that was difficult for new batsmen to score on.

All in all, while SRH have provided some fireworks in their first few games, the win against CSK was by far their most mature performance of the season, if not for the last couple of years and stands them in good stead for the remainder of the season.

A fast start could well be crucial again based on what we saw at the Maharaja Yadavindra Stadium in the first IPL game here. Both PBKS and DC found boundary striking significantly harder once pace was taken off the ball with the spinners on both sides effectively controlling the middle over period.

As suggested in previous PBKS analysis, Rahul Chahar was on the verge of losing his spot in the team and so it proved for the game against Gujarat. However, the pitch here looked far more conducive to spin bowling that that at Ahmedabad so PBKS will need to decide whether the in-form Harpreet Brar and recently recalled Sikander Raza have that department covered or whether they need Chahar back in the XI.

For their part, SRH's spinners have been quietly effective when required but it's the likes of Cummins and Unadkat who have had the greatest impact in those middle to later overs by taking pace off the ball. On the evidence of what we saw here in the DC game, they could well be effective with that tactic on this surface too.

PBKS vs SRH head to head

SRH bowling vs PBKS batting

Despite the heroics from Punjab's lower order in their last game, it does feel like their batting line-up is very reliant on the opening pair to get them runs.

Shikhar T20 head to head vs Bhuvi

Shikhar Dhawan will look to play the anchor role and his main priority will be to see off Bhuvi's opening burst with the new ball. Bhuvi has bowled 43% of SRH's powerplay overs so far this season with Cummins picking and choosing amongst his other options, including himself, at the other end.

In fact, the bowler who has been most commonly used after Bhuvi is Shahbaz Ahmed who has picked up 2 wickets from 4 powerplay overs so far this season. His match-up against Bairstow would be advantageous with the left-armer having dismissed the Englishman twice before in the IPL from just 7 balls bowled. Looking at a larger sample size, we also see that left-arm spin is Bairstow's weakest match-up proving both his lowest average and lowest strike rate in T20 cricket.

Bairstow T20 hed to head vs left-arm finger spin

Of course with 3 left-handers in their top 4 (Dhawan, Prabsimran Singh & Curran) the batsmen at the other end to Bairstow is likely to take on any left-arm spinner that SRH look to introduce early on. However, I think SRH will see that as a risk worth taking, especially if it encourage Shikhar to look to hit out early in his innings.

PBKS bowling vs SRH batting

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are striking at 210 and 246 respectively in the powerplay so far in IPL 2024. How PBKS look to combat that threat could well define the outcome of this match.

Head and Abhishek Sharma combined T20 head to head vs Arshdeep Singh

I think we can safely say that both the left-handers will go after Punjab's 2 left-arm swingers in Curran and Arshdeep Singh.

The good news for PBKS is that they have Rabada back and firing after a quiet 2023. He's taken 3 wickets in the powerplay and 6 overall this season which means he's about to surpass his rather meagre haul of 7 wickets across the entirety of last season's IPL.

While he'll look to fight fire with fire against Sunrisers' openers, he'll also be a very important factor later in the innings as PBKS look to tackle the dangerous Heinrich Klassen. Rabada has dismissed Klaasen twice before during the SA20, both times during the death overs.

Klaasen T20 head to head vs Rabada

Another PBKS bowler under some pressure is Harshal Patel following his big money move in the close season. Yes, he bowls some very difficult overs at the back end but he's not currently offering PBKS the kind of control they'd like with an economy rate close to 12 an over.

Bowler	Dot ball % overs 10 -20	Economy rate overs 10 - 20
Cummins	28.3%	6.8
Unadkat	32.7%	8.7
Harshal Patel	20.8%	12.8

IPL 2024 bowling stats during the 2nd half of the innings

The pitch conditions should suit him here and he has a good head to head record against the likes of Klaasen and Markram. We saw Cummins and Unadkat bowl very well in the 2nd half of the innings against CSK and despite being involved in some high scoring matches this season, Cummins' record during the 2nd half of the innings is highly impressive. Harshal Patel will need to match that impact against what is a very strong SRH batting unit.

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All stats used in this blog are from my own databases which are freely accessible below
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