Following a miraculous victory against reigning champions Gujarat Titans, two-time IPL winner Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 19th match of the ongoing 16th edition of the tournament at the Eden Gardens on Friday, April 14.
Nitish Rana’s side head into their second home fixture of this season on the back of a stunning chase against the Titans as Rinku Singh got his name into the history books after smashing five consecutive sixes in the last over of the match. Apart from Rinku, Venkatesh Iyer and the skipper also played crucial knocks with the bat, which will please the team management.
Meanwhile, their opponents, Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their first victory of the tournament on their third attempt after humbling Punjab Kings in a one-sided affair. While the bowlers did an outstanding job with the ball, especially at the top of the innings, Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram’s brilliance with the bat will please the Orange Army fans.
The home side will be looking to seal their third win on the trot after losing their opening game of the season, and they are the overwhelming favourites given their record on their home ground.
Pitch and Conditions
The surface at Eden Gardens has traditionally assisted the slower bowlers, and it was quite evident in the last game as well. However, it isn’t a minefield for the batters, and the team winning the toss would be inclined to bat first at this venue to take full advantage of the good batting conditions in the early stages of the match.
Probable Playing XI for KKR vs SRH
Kolkata Knight Riders
Even though Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana looked solid in the previous match, the KKR batting order has been marred with inconsistency of late, and they will be looking to improve their output as the season progresses. The discipline of the pacers in the death overs also has plenty of room for improvement.
Probable Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), N Jagadeesan, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Lack of runs from the top order still remains a concern for the Hyderbad-based outfit as they look to climb their way in the points table. The bowlers were effective in their last outing against Punjab and will look to replicate the same against KKR.
Probable Playing XI: Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, and T Natarajan
KKR vs SRH Head-to-head
Played – 23 Kolkata Knight Riders – 15
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