Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have been plagued by inconsistency so far in the current edition of the IPL. Both have won two and lost two, which in a way sums up their story — one day they play great, the next day they turn ordinary.

The two face each other at Punjab’s new home, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, on Tuesday and will hope that they can put their best foot forward to untangle themselves from the mid-table logjam. Currently, Sunrisers are placed fifth and Punjab sixth.

The two teams are also similar in their strengths and weaknesses.

Sunrisers have destructive batters who can simply run away with the game when on song. Punjab too have able men who can make good use of the willow.

With Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen in their ranks, the Sunrisers look terrifying. They have already shown their muscle power by recording the highest-ever IPL total and can have a run feast on Tuesday as well.

Punjab will bank on captain Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and their new-found finisher, Shashank Singh, to make good use of the home conditions.

But neither team have managed smart bowling displays so far this year. Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel form a potent bowling attack for Punjab
on paper, but they have failed to click on the field, lacking in accuracy and wicket-
taking skills.

The Sunrisers too have struggled with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T. Natarajan not bowling at their best.

Weak bowling is all the more reason why one suspects that Tuesday’s contest will be between the batters.