Kolkata Knight Riders face Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday evening. (Source: PTI)
Kolkata Knight Riders were struggling to get wins under their belt in the middle matches. They were under pump and finally needed to win all their games (three) to qualify for the playoffs. They did exactly that. Not only they won their league stage matches, they won the Eliminator as well against Rajasthan Royals. Now, they are one win away from making it to the IPL 2018 Final.
The two-time IPL champions will be taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier 2 on Friday and they will be the favourites going into the match. While KKR have won their last five games, Hyderabad have lost all of them. They lost the Qualifier 1 against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday after they finished at the top of the points table.
In head to head to records, KKR holds the edge over SRH with nine wins out of 14 games between the two sides. The last time these two sides met at the Eden Gardens this year, it was Sunrisers who came up trumps after beating Knight Riders by 5 wickets. However, both teams have had mixed fortunes since then.
Coming into the business end of the tournament, Dinesh Karthik and his men have ticked all the right boxes. What has worked best for the Knight Riders is that momentum has been with their side. While most teams have had at least one player who has scored more than 400 runs or taken more than 15 wickets, KKR’s USP is an equal contribution from all their playing XI. With the bat, Sunil Narine has given them explosive starts while Andre Russell’s cameos have given the much-needed impetus. Dinesh Karthik has also given the semblance towards the end of the innings. The trio of Narine, Piyush Chawla, and Kuldeep Yadav have continued to thrive in sub-continental conditions while young Prasidh Krishna has been a revelation with his variations towards the death overs.
Sunrisers have been one of the best bowling units in season 11 of the IPL. The trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Rashid Khan and Sandeep Sharma have made life difficult for opposition batsmen throughout the tournament. On a sluggish Eden wicket, they can be expected to do the same. The top order has also been equally impressive with consistent performances in almost all the games. Shikhar Dhawan (497 runs) and Kane Williamson (685 runs) have been in sensational form. However, SRH’s chink in the armor has been the inconsistent middle-order. In their last four defeats, the middle order has failed to deliver the goods. The form of Manish Pandey will be of particular concern.
While the battle between the two is expected to be one of equal measure the role of the 12th man- Eden’s support for KKR will also play a massive role in the outcome of this contest- as seen during Qualifier 1.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (C) (W), Piyush Chawla Tom Curran Cameron Delport Ishank Jaggi Mitchell Johnson Kuldeep Yadav Chris Lynn Prasidh Krishna Sunil Narine Nitish Rana Andre Russell Javon Searles Shivam Mavi Shubman Gill Rinku Singh Robin Uthappa Vinay Kumar Apporv Wankhade
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C), Tanmay Agarwal Khaleel Ahmed Basil Thampi Ricky Bhui Bipul Sharma Carlos Brathwaite Shikhar Dhawan Shreevats Goswami Alex Hales Mehdi Hasan Deepak Hooda Chris Jordan Siddarth Kaul Bhuvneshwar Kumar Mohammad Nabi T Natarajan Manish Pandey Yusuf Pathan Rashid Khan Sachin Baby Wriddhiman Saha (W) Sandeep Sharma Shakib Al Hasan Billy Stanlake
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