T20 2018: Hyderabad look to halt Punjab's winning streak, but can they?

Whether he will be able to produce an encore remains an inscrutable mystery as there has been no comment from Punjab on his fitness

Kane Williamson

The last time Punjab took on Hyderabad in Mohali, Chris Gayle rolled back the years with a sensational hundred. Whether he will be able to produce an encore remains an inscrutable mystery as there has been no comment from Punjab on his fitness.

Aaron Finch, his replacement at the top in the last match against Delhi has had a harrowing run this season and was the first batsman to have a net on the eve of the match. Pedantic fault-finding aside, Punjab have started phenomenally under the leadership of R Ashwin. They have been engaged in a tug of war with Chennai for the top spot on the points table, with five wins under their belt.

Hyderabad, on the other hand are grappling with the form of their middle-order imports from Kolkata. Consistency has continued to elude Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan. While Shakib could be forgiven for his run-out and Yusuf for being stranded with the tail last match against Mumbai, Pandey, who is now an India white-ball regular, needs to break the habit of squandering opportunities higher up the order. They have also had an injury concern with Bhuvneshwar Kumar missing the last match in Mumbai.

Hyderabad defended their second lowest T20 2018 total of 118 against Mumbai. With spinner Rashid Khan also bagging a Man of the Match award after two bad matches, Hyderabad return home a rejuvenated outfit, perfectly capable of toppling Punjab's apple cart.

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