IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today's SRH vs PBKS match

It doesn't happen often that even the final two matches of an IPL group stage carry enough weight to determine how the points table will shape up.

After Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) became the fourth team to qualify for the playoffs on Saturday, the equation for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) is clear. If they beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their final home game, they'll make it to the second spot in the table. After that, they'll rely on Rajasthan Royals (RR) to lose their final clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to retain that spot.

PBKS don't have a lot to fight for. They can't get any lower than ninth this season and a win will only take them as far as eighth. They'll also miss most of their overseas players due to injuries and national commitments, so even Sam Curran's wish to spoil a few parties would be quite difficult to materialise.

But these are often the games where individuals shine through, coming out with a 'nothing to lose' mindset to put up their best performances. Below, we have predicted three bowlers who have the best chance of doing that in the first game on Sunday:

#3 Pat Cummins

Two SRH bowlers are now impossible to leave out of these lists when the matches are at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. One is at the top of this list (below) and the other is Pat Cummins. We've spoken a lot about how Cummins has utilized his exceptional consistency to make the most of the flat home wickets.

He now has seven wickets in six matches here and is yet to go wicketless. In the crazy high-scoring game between the two teams in Punjab earlier in the season, Cummins bowled an exceptional spell of 1/22. The relatively inexperienced visiting batting line-up might find it quite difficult to deal with him on Sunday.

#2 Harshal Patel

With 22 wickets from 13 matches, Harshal Patel is once again leading the Purple Cap race in IPL 2024. Because PBKS are out of the playoffs race, his closest competitors are Varun Chakaravarthy (18) and Yuzvendra Chahal (17), with both of them having at least two more games left in the season.

You can expect a big final push from Harshal to widen the gap as much as he can. He has the form behind him to do so -- eight wickets in the last three games. He was excellent against SRH in the reverse fixture too, taking the wickets of Rahul Tripathi and Heinrich Klaasen for just 30 runs. Those took his tally to 12 wickets from as many games at a good average of 27.17 against SRH in the IPL.

Harshal's variations and the ability to out-think the batter would be PBKS' biggest pillar in Hyderabad. They'd rely on him to tackle the biggest hitters, which he can if he finds the early rhythm and confidence in the middle overs.

#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

SRH veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar is also on a second-half surge in IPL 2024, which is a bad sign for all other teams. He has seven wickets in the last four games and is looking at his best in the powerplay as well as at the death. Five of those wickets have come in Hyderabad which now seems perfect for his skills.

PBKS have faced the brunt of those skills over the years. In 20 IPL matches, he has 29 wickets at 18.38, his best average for any opponent he has played more than five times. He took 2/32 against them in Punjab even during his lean phase. His best IPL figures - 5/19 - also came against PBKS in 2017 and in Hyderabad.

The current PBKS side is entirely different but even they'd know that he's the most dangerous man to exploit their issues.