PBKS skipper KL Rahul: We knew what to expect here. Tried to get used to the conditions as quickly as we can. We were 10-15 short on this pitch. Bowlers tried very hard, but it’s very hard coming into these conditions and adapting quickly. Hindsight is a beautiful thing. We knew they were going to come hard. It’s tricky to have attacking fields. Was waiting for one of them to get out and then put pressure. Wanted to take the game as deep as possible. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get wickets in the middle and that cost us.
SRH 121/1 after 18.5 overs: Bairstow almost sealed the deal with a six off Arshdeep. A dropped chance a few balls later gave the SRH opener a life and two runs too. A single and then a wide finally saw SRH clinch their first win of the season. A comprehensive nine-wicket win.
SRH 111/1 after 18 overs: Bairstow gets to his fifty off 48 balls with a four off the first ball. Another three runs came off the remaining deliveries. The equation stands at 10 runs needed off 12 balls.
SRH 104/1 after 17 overs: Sunrisers Hyderabad need 17 runs in 18 balls. Almost a run-a-ball now. SRH are doing this right?
SRH 100/1 after 16 overs: Five runs off the Arshdeep over. Sunrisers Hyderabad need 21 runs in 24 balls and they have wickets in charge.
SRH 95/1 after 15 overs: Sunrisers Hyderabad need 26 runs in 30 balls. A few wickets could change things around for PBKS. Batting is not easy for new batsmen on this wicket.
SRH 91/1 after 14 overs: Sunrisers Hyderabad need 30 runs in 36 balls. Seems easy enough. Bairstow and Williamson are keeping it real in the middle. Time for a strategic timeout.
SRH 87/1 after 13 overs: Williamson starting time it a little better now. He plays late and that should help on this wicket. Seven runs off the Allen over.
SRH 80/1 after 12 overs: Sunrisers Hyderabad need 41 runs in 48 balls. It is starting to get closer but SRH need to hold on – they have failed to do that in the past at this venue.
SRH 73/1 after 11 overs: A wicket maiden for Fabien Allen. Just what PBKS needed.
SRH 73/1 after 10.1 overs: WICKET! Warner (37) throws it away. Allen gets PBKS the breakthrough. The SRH skipper finds Agarwal in the deep... just didn’t time it well enough and he knew that as soon as he hit it.
SRH 73/0 after 10 overs: Once again, SRH have done brilliant in the first 10 overs of their chase. Warner (37) and Bairstow (32) have been superb and PBKS need some wickets desperately.
SRH 63/0 after 9 overs: Six runs off the Ashwin over and that is good enough for SRH. They need 57 runs in 66 balls to win.
SRH 58/0 after 8 overs: Just 2 runs off the Hooda over. The run-rate will go down but SRH need to stay patient and they have this in their pocket.
SRH 55/0 after 7 overs: Leg-spinner M Ashwin into the attack and the field restrictions are off too. Run scoring will get more difficult now.
SRH 50/0 after 6 overs: The Powerplay overs are done. Warner (22) and Bairstow (26) are making it look easy. Time for a strategic timeout. PBKS need wickets if they want to make a match of this.
SRH 40/0 after 5 overs: Henriques into the attack and he dropped one short to Bairstow, who pulled it away for a six. Just one run from the rest of the over.
SRH 33/0 after 4 overs: Arshdeep into the attack and he immediately starts bowling a lot of cutters and slower balls. That may be the way to go on this wicket. But SRH get the six runs they needed from the over.
SRH 27/0 after 3 overs: SRH have got ahead of the asking rate and that is where they need to remain. A full toss from Shami was dispatched for a four by Bairstow and then Warner cut the last ball for another four. 10 runs off the over.
SRH 17/0 after 2 overs: But Bairstow will play as Bairstow does. A four and six off the Allen over and he is up and running.
SRH 6/0 after 1 over: SRH don’t HAVE to play the big shots and that is the key in this chase. If they can resist the temptation to play the big shots, they should be fine.
SRH bowlers have done well but their batsmen know how difficult chasing can be on this ground. Kane Williamson could be the right batsmen for the conditions and he could make the difference.
PBKS 120 all out after 19.4 overs: RUN OUT! Shami is run out while attempting to get a second run. SRH showing the experience of having played on this ground this season while PBKS struggled from the get go. None of the batsmen really got going.
PBKS 114/9 after 19.1 overs: WICKET! Kaul’s wide slower ball does the trick. Ashwin (9 off 10) went for the big shot, got the edge through to the keeper.
PBKS 110/8 after 18.1 overs: WICKET! Khaleel strikes with the first ball of the over to send back Shahrukh Khan (22 off 17). The right-hander went for the big shot but found Abhishek Sharma in the deep.
PBKS 110/7 after 18 overs: M Ashwin got an edge four to third man but otherwise, a decent over. SRH need to keep it together for another two overs. Only 12 balls left in the innings.
PBKS 101/7 after 16.4 overs: WICKET! Superb catch by Warner in the cover region. Khaleel’s slower ball got Allen to play the false stroke. PBKS hopes rest with Shahrukh now.
PBKS 98/6 after 16 overs: Time for a strategic timeout. SRH will know that a couple more wickets will make sure that they retain complete control of the game but a couple of bad over could spoil all the hard work they have done so far.
PBKS 94/6 after 15 overs: Shahrukh Khan is striking a few big blows for PBKS. Two sixes in his innings already but they need to make the most of the last 5 overs to stand a chance in this game. They need at least 130 to make a game out of this.
PBKS 82/6 after 13.4 overs: WICKET! Henriques is stumped by Bairstow off Abhishek. PBKS are losing far too many wicket far too quickly.
PBKS 75/5 after 13 overs: A stumping opportunity missed or Rashid Khan could have had another wicket. Bairstow didn’t pick up the googly either.
PBKS 63/5 after 11.3 overs: WICKET! Hooda (13) gone too. Abhishek Sharma traps him LBW and the review didn’t help. This isn’t looking good for PBKS.
PBKS 60/4 after 11 overs: 7 runs off a Rashid Khan over is a pretty good return given the state of the PBKS innings.
PBKS 53/4 after 10 overs: Henriques in the middle and he can bat but very important for PBKS to play out their over here. Hooda can strike the ball well too but they need to pick the right balls to hit.
PBKS 47/4 after 8.4 overs: WICKET! Rashid Khan traps Chris Gayle LBW. Big, big wicket. The left-hander wasn’t too sure which way the ball would turn, plonked his foot down the crease and was trapped by the leg-spin delivery.
PBKS 39/3 after 7.1 overs: RUN OUT! Direct hit and Pooran is walking back without even facing a ball. Not the best call. And PBKS need to be very careful here.
PBKS 39/2 after 7 overs: WICKET! Khaleel strikes and Rashid holds on to a catch this time. Mayank walking back after making 22 off 25 balls. Never really got going.
PBKS 32/1 after 6 overs: The Powerplay overs are done. SRH have restricted PBKS to just 32 runs in the first six overs.
PBKS 26/1 after 5 overs: Kaul into the attack and he delivers a steady over. It could have been even better but for one Gayle boundary. The left-hander came down the wicket and hit the ball straight down the ground. Super shot.
PBKS 19/1 after 4 overs: Bhuvi stays on the mark for the rest of the over too. A slow start for PBKS.
PBKS 15/1 after 3.1 overs: WICKET! Bhuvneshwar strikes the first blow for SRh. KL Rahul walking back after making 4. Easy catch for Kedar.
PBKS 15/0 after 3 overs: Another bowling change. Khaleel into the attack. Abhishek bowled a decent first over but Warner rings in the changes. Does he want to keep more overs of spin for later? One widish delivery from the left-armer was punished but otherwise, solid over. 6 runs off the over.
PBKS 9/0 after 2 overs: Bhuvneshwar comes into the attack from the other end. Six runs off the over...
PBKS 3/0 after 1 over: Abhishek Sharma started things off with a tidy over. He could have had a wicket too but Rashid Khan, in the deep, failed to hold on to a tough chance from Mayank Agarwal (on 0). The dropped chance resulted in two runs.
Players are taking the field. We are moments away from the start of the game. Given how difficult chasing has been on this ground, SRH will have to be at their very best in the field while bowling.
Playing XIs: Changes galore today.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Kane Williamson, Virat Singh, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Moises Henriques, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Fabian Allen, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
TOSS: KL Rahul has won the toss and PBKS will bat first.
2.55 pm: On a track that spinners are likely to enjoy, both teams have made changes. Kedar Jadhav has received his first SRH cap while Fabien Allen and Moises Henriques come in for PBKS.
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of a midweek double-header in the Indian Premier League.
The first match is between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai. This will be Punjab’s first match in Chennai, while SRH have struggled to get going at a venue where their jinx continues. PBKS are only making a short stopover in Chennai, for two matches, but they can’t afford to slip further back. For SRH, the only win-less team in the tournament, two points cannot come soon enough.
PBKS v SRH preview: After hattrick of losses, Hyderabad eye much-needed win against Punjab