1. Overview
After an amazing and entertaining league stage, it now time for the Playoffs. Though this is a playoff match, both the sides would be relaxed as they have a cushion of getting another chance to make it to the Final, if they miss this one. That doesn’t mean any of these sides wouldn’t be eager to win this.
While Orange Army in batting heavy going past 250 thrice this season, KKR is looks more balanced as they have got some big totals with the bat while they have been able to restrict their opponents on low totals too.
2. Team Previews
Head-to-Head Record: 26 Matches, KKR : 17 Win and SRH: 9 Wins
Kolkata Knight Riders: This has to be the best season for KKR in 17 seasons and them topping the Points Table is a proof. Their batting, specially Salt, Narine and Russell, have dominated throughout the season and when it failed, their bowlers made sure they bring them home. 4 of their bowlers have picked at least 15 wickets this season, which shows how strong their bowling has been this season.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t have any limitations. Firstly, they will be missing Phil Salt’s service in the crucial stage of the tournament and his replacement Rahmanullah Gurbaz will enter the match without playing a single match this season. Also, since 5th May when they have LSG, this is only their 2nd match in 16 days, the first being their match against MI on 11th with their last 2 matches being washed out. With so less time on field, they might feel a bit rusty.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Bringing the World Cup Winning Australian Captain as their New Captain did wonders of SRH. The side that ended at the bottom of the table in the last 3 seasons, ended in the Top 2 this season and playing the Qualifier 1. Their Batting is their biggest strength as they have struck 160 Sixes this season, which is the highest. With Head and Abhishek at the Top and Klaasen as the Finisher, the only problem for them was a weak No.3. But they seem to have found the solution for that too in form of Rahul Tripathi. Also, they happen to be the only side from the Top 4, without any player from England so they won’t face the issue of losing their first-choice players to International Fixtures.
Their excellent batting have concealed their weak bowling which has the joint lowest number of wickets – 67 this season, along with GT and LSG. Natarajan, Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have brought wickets for them none of them have an economy less than 9.00 an over.
3. Previous Meeting
KKR Won the only match between the 2 sides at Eden – The First Thriller of the season, by merely 4 Runs.
4. Probable Teams
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Starting XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy
Impact List: Vaibhav Arora, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, KS Bharat, Sherfaine Rutherford
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Starting XI: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Sanvir Singh, Pat Cummins (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan
Impact List: Umran Malik, T Natarajan, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat
5. Interesting Facts
KKR has become just the 4th Side in the History of the tournament to Finish the League Stage with a NRR above 1.00. The 3 previous instances occurred in 2010 (MI), 2015 (RCB) and 2020 (MI)
Thats not all, KKR is the only side to Top the Table with 2 Abandoned Matches.
The Toss Winning Side have NOT won the match since the last 15 matches. The last time a team won after winning the toss was MI against SRH in Match No.55
The Last time KKR qualified for the Playoffs (2021), Pat Cummins and Rahul Tripathi, were part of KKR Camp.
Similarly, When SRH last played a Playoff Match (2020), Manish Pandey played for SRH.
6. Stats
The Top 4 Totals of All Time belongs to these 2 sides, all scored this season, with KKR’s 272 occupying the 3rd spot while the other 3 by SRH – 287, 277 & 266.
Rahul Tripathi will play his 150th T20 Innings with the Bat
Rahmanullah Gurbaz needs 15 Runs to complete 4000 T20 Runs
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a wicket shy of 300 T20 Wickets
Varun Chakravarthy needs 5 more wickets to complete 100 T20 Wickets
Jaydev Unadkat Needs one more wicket to complete 100 IPL Wickets
Heinrich Klaasen is just a catch away from completing 100 T20 Catches
7. Pitch Report
The pitch is expected to offer a lot of runs, so get ready for a high scoring Qualifier 1. Fast Bowlers might get some support but controlling the flow of runs would be still a tough task
Though nobody would like to win the toss (Check Fun Facts), the toss winning side would batting first because of SRH’s records while batting first and KKR would prefer throwing SRH out of their comfort zone.
8. Match Details
Time: 7:30 PM
Date: 21st May 2024
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
9. Dream XI
