Can Sunrisers tame Punjab's rampaging batting line-up?

Still smarting from a defeat in their opening match, Sunrisers Hyderabad face the arduous task of taming a rampaging Kings XI Punjab batting line-up when they lock horns in the ninth match of the Indian Premier League Season 7 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah, on Tuesday.

The Sunrisers suffered a thrilling last-over defeat to Rajasthan Royals when James Faulkner blasted two fours in as many balls to chase down their modest target of 133 on Friday.

The Hyderabad team failed to put up enough runs on the board as skipper Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner lost wickets after setting a foundation and they would look to not repeat the mistake against Punjab, who are on a roll with two wins in a row.

Punjab have proved that no target is stiff enough for them as they chased down scores of 205 and 191 against Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals respectively with more than an over to spare.

The team has relied on the dangerous duo of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller, who have shown little respect for the opposition bowlers going on a rampage to blow Chennai and Rajasthan away.

With scores such as 95 runs off 43 balls and 89 in 45 balls, Maxwell has been the most devastating batsman in the IPL this year, while Miller too has been simply unstoppable as he blasted 37-ball 54 and 19-ball 51 in his last two unbeaten innings respectively.

For Hyderabad, it would be the pace troika of Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who would be in the firing line against the dangerous duo of Maxwell and Miller. Sunrisers captain Dhawan would hope they can get their wickets early to stop them running away with the match.

The Hyderabad pace troika had reduced Rajasthan to 31 for three in 6.2 overs in their last match and they will have to produce a similar dose of seam and bounce to tame Punjab.

In the spin department, the Sunrisers have a potent combination in the form of leg spinners Amit Mishra and Karn Sharma.

While Mishra was brilliant with the ball during the World Twenty20 with 10 wickets in six matches, Karn also had done a good job for Hyderabad in the last season, taking 11 wickets in 13 matches and a lot will depend on them when they come to bowl in the middle overs of the match.

Despite winning both their matches so far, the Despite winning both their matches so far, the bowling still remains a problem for Kings XI Punjab. Their bowlers -- both pacers and spinners -- have failed to contain the flow of runs and take enough wickets which has allowed their opponents to post big scores on board.

Australia's Mitchell Johnson has looked a pale shadow of what he did during the Ashes, while other pacers Lakshmipathy Balaji and Parvinder Awana too have have been expensive.

Squads:

Kings XI Punjab: George Bailey (captain), Anureet Singh, Parvinder Awana, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh, Beuran Hendricks, Mitchell Johnson, Karanveer Singh, Murali Kartik, Mandeep Singh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Akshar Patel, Thisara Perera, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Sandeep Sharma , Virender Sehwag, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Manan Vohra.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: S Dhawan (captain), Srikkanth Anirudha, Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Aaron Finch, Moises Henriques, Jason Holder, Manprit Juneja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chama Milind, Amit Mishra, Naman Ojha, Prasanth Parameswaran, Parvez Rasool, Irfan Pathan, Amit Paunikar, KL Rahul, Darren Sammy, Ishant Sharma, Karn Sharma, Dale Steyn, Brendon Taylor, Y Venugopal Rao, David Warner.. Their bowlers -- both pacers and spinners -- have failed to contain the flow of runs and take enough wickets which has allowed their opponents to post big scores on board.

Australia's Mitchell Johnson has looked a pale shadow of what he did during the Ashes, while other pacers Lakshmipathy Balaji and Parvinder Awana too have have been expensive.

Squads:

Kings XI Punjab: George Bailey (captain), Anureet Singh, Parvinder Awana, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh, Beuran Hendricks, Mitchell Johnson, Karanveer Singh, Murali Kartik, Mandeep Singh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Akshar Patel, Thisara Perera, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Sandeep Sharma , Virender Sehwag, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Manan Vohra.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: S Dhawan (captain), Srikkanth Anirudha, Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Aaron Finch, Moises Henriques, Jason Holder, Manprit Juneja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Chama Milind, Amit Mishra, Naman Ojha, Prasanth Parameswaran, Parvez Rasool, Irfan Pathan, Amit Paunikar, KL Rahul, Darren Sammy, Ishant Sharma, Karn Sharma, Dale Steyn, Brendon Taylor, Y Venugopal Rao, David Warner.