The Kings XI will arrive in Hyderabad as the bottom team in the qualifying group, having managed to win just one of their four fixtures going into the weekend.
However, such is the nature of this season’s tournament, with no side dominating, and each team appearing capable of beating any other, Saturday’s contest could go either way.
Sunrisers first two games of the 2016 season ended in defeat, beaten by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but have since come back strongly, winning fixtures against the reigning Champions the Mumbai Indians, and on Thursday taking the last 100% winning record in the tournament, when they crushed the Gujarat Lions, who had won all three of their matches previously.
The upsurge in the Sunrisers fortunes have coincided with some stunning form being shown with the bat by Australian opener David Warner, who scored 90 not out from 59 deliveries against Mumbai, and followed up with 74 not out from 48 balls against the Lions.
Warner has now accumulated 235 runs in the 2016 IPL at an average of over 100, and a strike rate of over 160, and is currently the holder of the Orange Cap for the highest scorer in the tournament. Bhuvneshwar Kumar with seven wickets to date is also holding onto the Purple Cap, for the leading wicket taker in the competition.
The Kings XI are not only facing issues on the pitch, but also off it, due to the drought affecting the state of Maharashtra. The Bombay High Court having ruled that all matches after April 30th are moved outside of the state.
As a consequence, fixtures against Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad scheduled to be played in Nagpur between May 7 and 15, have now been moved to Dharamsala.