Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings: Both look to sign off with a win in a dead rubber

This is the final fixture before heading into playoffs. As Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals in the previous night's fixture, the top four spots have been sealed for Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. This implies tonight's match will be a dead rubber one; in no way it will impact the positions of the top four. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad has been pretty inconsistent with their performance, leaving them lingering at the lower-middle order in the table. Also, their skipper Kane Williamson left the bubble for the birth of his second child. Until now, there has been no update on who will lead the team tonight in the last fixture. The team is likely to be led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar owing to his experience, as he has also led the team previously. They have many match-winners in bowling and batting units in the form of Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Umran Malik, and T Natarajan. They just need to be consistent enough to win it.

Punjab Kings, too, like Sunrisers Hyderabad, has been inconsistent this season. They are currently placed seventh with 12 points in their bag. Their team looked solid on paper but failed to make an impact on the field. Despite having power-hitting and amazing pacers on the team, they couldn't live up to expectations. They will look to end this league on a positive note and hopefully have an impactful start next season. 

Players to watch out for

Batters: Rahul Tripathi and Shikhar Dhawan

Rahul Tripathi is the leading run-scorer for SRH, having scored 393 runs in 13 matches at an average of 39.3. In the previous game, he won Player of the Match. Whereas Shikhar Dhawan has not scored more than 21 runs in the last three innings despite being the leading run-scorer of Punjab. Both will look to put forward the best batting performance for their teams.

Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada and Umran Malik

Both the bowlers are leading wicket-takers of their respective franchises. They both have been in good form in the previous few matches, giving significant breakthroughs to their teams. They will be crucial players for their teams tonight. 

Stats to keep an eye on

• Punjab Kings' scoring rate of 9.73 in the last four overs is the worst among teams in IPL 2022.
• Kagiso Rabada has picked up at least one wicket in 11 of the 12 innings he bowled in IPL 2022.
• Punjab Kings have conceded the fewest sixes (16) in the last four overs this season, while Sunrisers Hyderabad has hit the fewest (18) in the phase. 

Hyderabad has a winning momentum on their side and has already defeated Punjab Kings once this season. We can certainly hope for a cracking contest between the two, to give a cracking exit to the league stage.