It’s a battle among equals in Mohali tonight, even though the teams involved aren’t the strongest around.

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Kings XI Punjab host Sunrisers Hyderabad at the PCA Stadium with both teams having an equally poor record this IPL.

Punjab are at the bottom of the pile, with four defeats from six matches, while Hyderabad are placed higher despite having a similar win-loss record, owing to a superior net run rate.

And what makes the contest more even is the fact that both sides lost their previous matches by convincing margins.

Kings XI were restricted to a mere 95 for nine chasing 193 against Chennai Super Kings.

Not only did their bowlers fail in that match, managing to take just three wickets, their top order too fell flat on its face with the first five batsmen contributing just 49 runs.

What will be a major concern for Punjab is the form of openers Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay, who have failed to score a half century in six outings. 

Their bowlers have also been below par with Aussie quick Mitchell Johnson a big disappointment in the previous game, going for 40 in his four overs without a wicket.

Hyderabad, too, have issues to sort out. Their batting relies heavily on captain David Warner and fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan and the rest of the middle order, comprising of KL Rahul, Naman Ojha and Ravi Bopara has failed to fire, as was the case against Mumbai when they struggled to reach 137 for eight, chasing 158.

It’s an area middle order batter Rahul knows his team needs to work on.

“The middle order has to wake up and get runs for the team. If we keep batting like this then there is going to be too much pressure on Warner and Dhawan at the top of the order,” he said. 

“There is firepower in the middle with Ravi Bopara and Naman Ojha who can hit the ball, but we just have not been able to click well as a batting unit.

“We still have games left in the competition and it will be good if we can learn our lessons, pull up our socks and put in better performances for the team.”