Shreyas Iyer won the toss at Mohali and sent Sunrisers Hyderabad in on what he labelled “a dry surface”. Opposite number Ishan Kishan admitted he would have preferred to chase as well but stressed it is now “about playing good cricket in the first innings”.
Punjab Kings have kept changes to a minimum. Young opener Priyansh Arya starts, with Nehal Wadhera held back as the most likely Impact substitute.
Sunrisers were busier at the selection table. Salil Arora returns in the middle order and right-arm quick Praful Hinge receives his first IPL cap. Liam Livingstone and Jaydev Unadkat drop to the bench, though both remain available on the Impact list. Hinge is also listed there, hinting that he may be unleashed once the lights take effect.
PBKS XI
Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Cooper Connolly, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact options: Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar
SRH XI
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (capt, wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel, Eshan Malinga
Impact options: Jaydev Unadkat, Praful Hinge, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Kamindu Mendis
Key points
• Surface expected to slow up; Kings trust Yuzvendra Chahal for control in the middle overs.
• Sunrisers’ top four still packs power through Head, Kishan and Klaasen despite Livingstone’s omission.
• Kings retain their preferred pace trio of Bartlett, Vyshak and Arshdeep.
Former India quick Zaheer Khan called Iyer’s decision “a sensible, percentage move”, adding on television: “If it grips, Chahal is in play; if not, Punjab like chasing anything.”
Sunrisers coach Daniel Vettori explained Hinge’s selection: “Praful has looked sharp at training, regularly clocking 140-plus. Tonight felt the right time to give him a go.”
First ball is scheduled for 19:30 local.
