IPL 2014 Match 9 prediction: Hyderabad (61%) predicted to defeat Punjab (39%)

By Shashi Mittal On April 22, 2014

Prediction methodology

Note: We are currently using the data from IPL 2013/2014 and Champions League Twenty20 2013 for predicting the outcome of this season's IPL matches

Prediction: Sunrisers Hyderabad (61%) expected to defeat Kings XI Punjab (39%) (Match scorecard)

Kings XI Punjab ranked second-to-last in our pre-tournament rankings of the teams, however they have been the one who have provided the biggest bangs of the tournament so far. Glenn Maxwell and David Miller have been a highly potent combination for Punjab in their batting lineup so far. However, if there is a team whose bowling attack that can stop Punjab's batting in its track, it is the Sunrisers Hyderabad. They have one of the best bowling attacks of all the teams in the tournament, and this should be an exciting contest between Punjab's batting and Hyderabad's bowling.

Given that Punjab have successfully chased two big targets in the tournament so far, Hyderabad would be wise to put them to bat first if in case they win the toss and restrict them to a reasonable total. The batting lineup of Punjab, apart from Maxwell and Miller, have not been tested yet and it will be interesting to see how Punjab recovers should they lose either one or both of them early in their innings. Punjab's bowling has leaked away too many runs and this is their biggest weak spot. Sunrisers Hyderabad have enough power in their batting lineup to exploit this weakness. Our model is still under-estimating Punjab's batting strength, and the advantage for now is with Hyderabad for this contest.

Cricmetric's current prediction success rate for IPL 2014: 3/8 (37.5%)