Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Daniel Vettori opined on his team’s upcoming IPL 2026 clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS), adding the importance of strong opening partnerships and the potential for a high-scoring game as well. Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Vettori opined on PBKS’ recent losses and the key role their opening pair plays in shaping their performance as well.

“In both of PBKS’ losses, their opening pair obviously hasn’t got a score, so that puts a different perspective on how you go about the game,” Vettori noted. “It’s the same for us. We know when Travis and Abhishek get away, how much it sets up a team performance, and it’s exactly the same for Punjab. So, a lot of emphasis on those two batters and how we’re going to cope with them.”

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“That opening combination has been incredibly impressive, and they’ve had complementary performances from the majority of their batting line-ups. In a lot of ways, they’re like us. They’re very aggressive with the bat, and then they just try and mitigate anything they can with the ball. So they’re pretty well-planned and have a good understanding of what they’re going to do,” he again said.

Talking about the high stakes, Vettori anticipated a fast-paced, high-scoring game, saying the need for both teams’ bowlers to handle the pressure.

“You’d anticipate a high-scoring game, and it’s the bowling unit that can deal with that pressure, really,” he added. “I think the IPL is so short and fast that you have to be ready for every game, and you can’t let a loss linger. You just have to focus on those things that have really worked during the season. And the majority of our time, I think eight out of ten games, our batting order has been outstanding. So we have full confidence in them and their ability to perform like they have the majority of the season.”