It’s that time of the IPL, where the race for the Playoffs really takes off. With Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore going neck-and-neck, the remaining five teams must be scurrying through the points-table, where things don’t look too promising, especially for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, who enter the first match of Sunday’s double-header on the back of two consecutive losses.
There are plenty of similarities between the two sides if a cursory glance is to be given at their respective campaigns. Both teams are battling middle-order crisis and have been plagued by inconsistency. Albeit briefly, there came a period when both teams registered back-to-back wins but couldn’t take it forward. Even though SRH and KKR are better placed than Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, the battle for the fourth place is going to get fierce as we slowly start to proceed towards the business end of the tournament.
(Full coverage of IPL 2020)
What: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 35, IPL 2020
When: Sunday, October 18, 2020
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Team News
Sunrisers Hyderabad: It’s really evident at this point that SRH are really missing the services of a big-hitter in the middle-order, which is why Abdul Samad starts a strong contender to make it to the XI in place of Vijay Shankar. Priyam Garg has been a let down since his unbeaten 51 against CSK, but is likely to retain his place in the team.
Probable XI: 1 Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner (Captain), 2 Jonny Bairstow (Wicketkeeper), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Priyam Garg, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Shahbaz Nadeem, 9 Sandeep Sharma, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 T Natarajan
Kolkata Knight Riders: Kuldeep Yadav has been benched for far too long, and given the slowing surfaces, this may be the ideal time to get him back and allow the wrist-spinner to regain some of that lost confidence. Also, Kuldeep has taken 10 wickets against SRH, which is his best against any team. It also allows KKR to bring in fast bowler Lockie Ferguson to shuffle things up a bit.
Probable XI: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Eoin Morgan (Captain), 5 Andre Russell, 6 Dinesh Karthik (Wicketkeeper), 7 Pat Cummins, 8 Lockie Ferguson, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Shivam Mavi
Stats and Trivia
– David Warner is 10 runs away from becoming the first overseas player, and fourth overall to get to 5000 IPL runs.
– SRH are yet to win a game chasing in this tournament
Source: IPLT20.com