After claiming a thumping 8-wicket victory against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) a day back with some 21 balls to spare, the men-in-black are now ready to make it big against the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday in Kolkata.
IPL 2017: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) – Preview #IPL
No doubt, it will be a battle of goliaths as both teams are in astonishing form with both bat and ball. They are currently holding the top two positions of the IPL league matches points table. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will certainly try to win Saturday’s game and avenge their play-off loss to SRH last year.
The way KXIP performed this year, it seems they are ready to claim their first IPL title, but KKR’s one-sided victory against Punjab once again proved who the real boss in the IPL is. KKR are a strong champion side and won the title twice. So, no team should underestimate them.
What to look out for in KKR vs SRH IPL match?
In the previous match, KKR opted for ace off-spinner Sunil Narine on the opening spot alongside Gautam Gambhir, and it paid off well as Narine smashed 37 runs in 18 balls with four boundaries and three sixes at an unbelievable strike rate of 200 plus. This eventually laid the foundation for KKR’s victory against KXIP.
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In tomorrow’s match, in-form Umesh Yadav will be a trump card for the side. If he gives initial breakthrough to KKR in the very beginning of the SRH’s batting, then it could eventually restrict SRH at a modest total in Kolkata. Umesh Yadav is a prolific death over bowler too and won’t give away too many runs in the crucial overs that Dinda of RPS unfortunately gives away.
SRH are also not far behind. They have a superb bowling attack too comprising the likes of Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan and Yuvraj Singh. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is incredible at the death overs alongside Nehra and Mustafizur Rahman. On the other hand, Rashid Khan (leg-spinner) easily picked up six wickets in his three outings while containing the run-rate of opponents.
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Predicted Playing XI (Both Teams)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Trent Boult, Piyush Chawla, Colin de Grandhomme, Yusuf Pathan, Shaikb-Al-Hasan, Sunil Narine, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Uthappa (Wicket Keeper) and Umesh Yadav.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): David Warner (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Rashid Khan, Naman Ojha (Wicket Keeper), Ben Cutting, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Deepak Hooda and Pravin Tambe.
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Head to Head: SRH and KKR played a total of 9 times against each other in which KKR won 6 and SRH won 3 of them.
Result Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will win.
Venue: The match will telecast live on SONY ESPN from 4PM at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Tags: #IPL, Eden Gardens, Indian Premier League, IPL 10, IPL 2017, KKR, Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders, SRH, Sunrisers Hyderabad, VIVO IPL
