Sunrisers Hyderabad v Punjab Kings IPL Tips: Don't miss Stoinis at 9/1

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Punjab Kings
Saturday 12 April, 15:00
TV: live on Sky Sports

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Punjab Kings IPL team news

Sunrisers Hyderabad's title challenge looks to be almost over. It's four defeats in five. And if they're actually going to win this it will require a minimum of six wins in nine in the league stage and then three straight in the play-offs.

They have been consumed by their own hype. So desperate to show they are the big guns with the bat, they have collapsed under expectation. They are regualrly posting the lowest totals in the tournament now. As a result the XI is changing and players are losing confidence.

Kamindu Mendis and Jaydev Unadkat have been drafted in and Harshal Patel dropped.

Probable SRH XI: Head (Simarjeet sub), Abhishek, Ishan, Reddy, Klaasen, Verma, Mendis, Cummins, Shami, Ansari, Unadkat

Punjab Kings look on course to go close to a play-off. It's three wins in four having defended 219 against Chennai last time. CSK got to 209 and in time, if we're being harsh, that may show a slight weakness in the Punjab armoury as a weak batting unit got too close for comfort.

Still, the balance is pretty good and they have unearthed a star in opener Priyansh Arya. His ton set up the win over CSK. They do need more from Yuz Chahal, who has been a disappointment after his auction move.

Possible Punjab XI: Arya (Yash Thakur), Prab Singh, Iyer, Stoinis, Wadhera, Maxwell, Shashank, Jansen, Ferguson, Chahal, Arshdeep

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Punjab Kings IPL pitch report

If there was one we thing we thought we could rely on this IPL, it was that Hyderabad would be a road and we could bet high runs lines and sixes. Now we don't know. Sunrisers, panicked by their awful start, have started to talk about using the 'slower pitch'. The what now? Who even knew there was one?

Against Gujarat this surface was supposed to have been deployed. Sunrisers posted 152. Using a flat surface isn't actually a bad idea for the hosts because their batting is supposed to be their strength and the bowling needs all the help they can get.

If we were confident this was the slow one again we'd short Sunrisres runs at 184.5 with Sportsbook. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Punjab Kings match prediction

Sunrisers went off at 1.608/13 for their defeat by Lucknow in their second game at Hyderabad in the tournament. Now they are priced as a choice affair. It shows how far they have fallen.

The pitch switch epitomises the chaos. They just don't know whether to stick or twist. But they have a sniff here. Punjab are a good match-up for them because their bowling unit has a tendency to be pricey. 

If they can regroup, commit to the plan (and using a slower surface isn't a bad one) then they can build confidence with a win here. Even money isn't the worst bet in the world. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Punjab Kings Exchange strategy

This feels like a game to deploy the tie strategy. A close game is expected on a potentially attritional surface so we're hoping the 50.049/1 on the exchange can crash in-play with the chaser taking it to the wire.

We're looking for teen prices. By taking the big number now, we can look to lay off at, say, 16.0015/1 by trebling the stake on the lay button. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Punjab Kings player bets

Marcus Stoinis had a 27% win rate in two years on IPL top bats at the start of the tournament. He hasn't won yet so is in the win zone. Sportsbook offer 9/110.00, which is a big price considering that record. He has also been batting at No 4. 

We were on against CSK at 6/17.00 wih an excellent head-to-head also in his favour. It's a surprise that he's been pushed out so significantly. There's no sign that the match-ups work in his favour but also there's little to be concerned about. 

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