Kings of the hills

Returning to their second home in the hills, Punjab Kings are looking to make it count in their final three home games and take a big step towards the IPL playoffs. Sitting at fourth spot with 13 points from 10 games, the Kings are eyeing a top-two finish in the league stage.

At the HPCA Stadium, which is surrounded by snow-capped peaks, the Kings will face their first test in Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday. Going by their performances, the Kings will surely be the favourites against LSG. PBKS come into the match after a strong performance against Chennai Super Kings. LSG, on the other hand, are yet to perform at their best despite some brilliant performances by Nicolas Pooran, Avesh Khan and Digvesh Rathi.

With the track at Dharamsala expected to help pacers, it will be interesting to see whether the return of Mayank Yadav and the consistency of Khan will give LSG the edge or will Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen help PBKS rule at their home.

On the batting front, the Kings’ top-three comprising Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya and skipper Shreyas Iyer have done much of the heavy lifting for the side.

However, using five players at No. 4 this season is a cause of worry for the side. Marcus Stoinis is expected to be fit for the match, but the team really needs to push Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh up the order, especially now that all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament due to a fractured finger.

Similarly, LSG also have a top-heavy lineup with Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram and Pooran firing consistently. The team is still waiting for an inspired performance from captain Rishabh Pant, who has endured a disappointing run with six single-digit scores for a total of 110 runs in 10 matches.

For the Kings, apart from performing with the bat, Iyer has also made an impact with his sharp tactical leadership.

“This is the time of the tournament when you want to be playing your best cricket," said the Kings’ assistant coach Brad Haddin. “And I think if you look at what’s happened over the last few games, we’re gradually getting better and better every game," he added.

“Last year, we saw some really steep totals and we’ve seen it at times during this edition, but I think a lot of credit has to go to the bowlers. They’ve got a good idea now on what the batters are trying to do. So the bowlers… have done a lot of homework."

Pooran vs Chahal

Having scored 377 runs this season, the highest for LSG, left-handed Pooran will be looking ahead for a chance to take on Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner is fresh from taking a hat-trick against CSK. After taking just two wickets in his first five matches, Chahal managed to get 11 in the last four at an economy rate of 7.6. In the last match, he was kept away after bowling two overs in the first 10 due to left-handers in the CSK lineup. However, on his return in the 19th over, he picked up four wickets, including a hat-trick. He has dismissed Pooran twice in seven innings.

Meanwhile, after an explosive start to the season with four fifties in six games, Pooran has had average outings in his last four games. He’s been dominant against spin all season, striking at 264, while his teammates have struggled, scoring at a combined strike-rate of just 127.

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