Today, defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad will be taking on the challenge of two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will be taking on table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders at Hyderabad tonight. Both teams have performed well throughout the tournament and have both won their previous matches, with KKR defeating Delhi Daredevils and SRH trumping Kings XI Punjab.
This will be the second encounter between both teams in the tournament with KKR winning their previous encounter by 17 runs. However, tonight’s game is bound to be exciting and both teams will be willing to put on a great show.
Batting Performances:
Both teams have explosive top order batsmen who have given them terrific starts. KKR’s top order has been the finest in the tournament. The likes of Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, and Sunil Narine will provide a solid start.
SRH have a terrific batting lineup with Shikhar Dhawan and skipper David Warner opening the innings; both of whom have been in sensational form lately. Then, they have the likes of Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques, and Yuvraj Singh who can accumulate plenty of runs during the middle-overs following which, the likes of Deepak Hooda and Naman Ojha will be required to provide a finishing touch.
Bowling Performances:
KKR have quite a decent bowling attack with the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes, Umesh Yadav, and Colin de Grandhomme. All of them are reliable pacers who can take quick wickets during the powerplays and can also bowl well during the death.
SRH’s biggest strength is their bowling department which consists of the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra who can strike early and can bowl well during the death overs as well.
Siddarth Kaul has also been establishing himself as a fine bowler through his recent performances. In Rashid Khan, SRH have arguably the most reliable spinner of this year’s IPL who can contain the opposition batting well and can also chip in with a wicket or two.
Key Players:
David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Rashid Khan are the players for Sunrisers Hyderabad who would be kept under close observation while for Kolkata Knight Riders, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa’s batting partnership is going to be worth watching. The two have come up to smash the opponent bowling line up hard and have been scoring heaps of runs on the course. Incidentally, Uthappa also scored a half century against Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier in the competition.
Predicted winner: Sunrisers Hyderabad
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