Kolkata Knight Riders will be through to the 2018 Indian Premier League Play-Offs if they defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have no margin for error when they take on hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who will fancy their chances despite coming off a defeat, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Currently occupying the top spot with nine wins from 13 matches, Sunrisers are coming into the game following a 14-run loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in a high-scoring match, but the home team can take confidence from their impressive showing in the season so far.
Two-time champions KKR are placed third in the standings with seven wins in 13 outings, and the visitors will be going all out for a victory at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, and inch closer to SRH and Chennai Super Kings.
After Sunrisers' dismal performance against RCB with the ball, which has been one of their strong points this season, the hosts will be eager to correct the flaws as they brace up to face another tough opposition. Sunrisers are likely to ring in a couple of changes and pacer Basil Thampi, who on Thursday bowled the most expensive four overs in the history of IPL, could be one of the axed players. Thampi leaked 70 runs in his full quota of four overs, surpassing the previous record held by Ishant Sharma.
While the bowlers were taken to task by the likes of AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali in their last game, Sunrisers showed a lot of heart while batting, coming within touching distance of a famous win. Aggregating over 600 runs this season, skipper Kane Williamson has led the side from the front, and he will look to do it again. The 81 off 42 balls against RCB was Williamson's eighth fifty-plus score in IPL 2018.
Having missed out against RCB, opener Shikhar Dhawan will be keen to get a big one against the Knight Riders. Manish Pandey, who blazed away to a half century against Virat Kohli's bowlers, will look to continue in the same vein.
In bowling, pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was not played in the last game, could be back alongside Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul and Shakib Al Hasan. As far as KKR is concerned, one player whose confidence will be sky high going into the match is Kuldeep Yadav, who starred with four wickets in the team's comfortable win over Rajasthan Royals. The likes of Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine and skipper Dinesh Karthik will hold the key to KKR's fortunes.
SRH v/s KKR head-to-head
Both teams have faced each other 13 times. While SRH have won five of those games, KKR have triumphed on eight occasions. At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, where Saturday's match is going to be held, both teams have won two games apiece against each other.
SRH v/s KKR expected Playing XI
SRH Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales, Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreevats Goswami(w), Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma.
KKR Probable XI: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (w/c), Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, Piyush Chawla, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav.
SRH v/s KKR prediction
Sunrisers Hyderabad are looking good to finish at the top of the IPL 2018 points table. KKR, on the other hand, are looking to seal their spot in the knockouts with a win on Saturday. While the hosts have lost their last two games, the visitors have won theirs. Having said that, beating Hyderabad in their own den is no mean feat and, perhaps, a bridge too far for KKR. We're backing the Sunrisers to win this one.
Hello, my name is Utsav Koirala. I'm a 15 year old self-employed from Foot Cric News.
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