Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will host Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Eden Gardens on Friday as they look to carry on the incredible momentum they have garnered from the spectacular victory against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday.
Sometimes, teams only need a moment of genius to turnaround their entire campaign. Rinku Singh unleashed absolute carnage in Ahmedabad the last weekend and the KKR think-tank will be hoping that the players are stimulated by that result to up the ante in a campaign in which they are dealing with the absence of their star captain Shreyas Iyer.
KKR could look to strengthen their top-order by roping in English opener Jason Roy in the playing XI in place of Afghan wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz. They already took some initial steps towards that change by including Tamil Nadu keeper Narayan Jagadeesan in the starting lineup in the last week. There are good chances that the Knight Riders trust Roy’s experience over Gurbaz’s dynamism as they look to secure an important victory at home.
Their bowling unit might not require many tweaks as the duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy will again hold the key in taking the steam off the SRH batting at the Eden Gardens.
Also Read:
The SRH will be beaming high on confidence having bagged their first win of the campaign after successive losses in their opening two games. Their bowling really turned up well against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday and the batting led by Rahul Tripathi managed to sail past the modest target of 144 runs with relative ease eventually.
The SRH need not make any changes in their playing XI. They have already decided to cut the fluff out and promote English superstar Harry Brook to open the batting in order to optimise his impact on the proceedings. The bowling has a fine blend of express pace, variations and wily leg-spin and that will hold them in good stead in a Kolkata track that has something in it for everyone.
Predicted Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (C), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy
Impact Player: Sunil Narine
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mayank Agarwal, Harry Brook, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (C), Heinrich Klassen (wk), Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, T. Natarajan
Impact Player: Abdul Samad
Key Player To Watch Out
Venkatesh Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders)
Vnekatesh Iyer had played a splendid innings, scoring 83 runs in merely 40 deliveries before Rinku decided to make all hell break loose against the Titans. His stroke-making abilities will find the perfect partner in the batting friendly pitch at the Eden and his matchup against Umran Malik particularly in the death overs will be an interesting contest to keep an eye out on during the course of the game.
Harry Brook (Sunrisers Hyderabad)
SRH’s Rs 13.25 crore recruit has only aggregated 29 runs in three games so far and gradually the pressure has been mounting on him to demonstrate that he is worth the big bucks that Hyderabad shelled out on him. Brook now has an ideal opportunity to amass some quick runs at the start in the powerplay and then bring his brilliant skillsets against spinners to the fore in the middle-overs.
Pitch Report
The average first innings batting score in 12 games in this ground is 155, which suggests that a fair contest between the bat and the ball are on the cards for Friday.
Where to Watch
Television viewers can tune into action at 7.30 pm on Friday on the Star Sports Network. On digital, viewers can catch the game on the JioCinema app.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
First Published: Apr 14, 2023 9:38 AM IST
Check out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!
BJP is planning to ban RSS, says Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray
May 18, 2024 8:01 PM
Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Complete list of Congress candidates
May 18, 2024 4:08 PM
Punjab Lok Sabha elections: Check full list of AAP candidates and constituencies
May 18, 2024 12:59 PM
PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi election rallies in Delhi today: Here are the routes to avoid
May 18, 2024 11:28 AM