Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad will face each other in IPL today. Both the teams have lost their first match and will enter the Eden Gardens in Kolkata today with the intention of registering their first win.
Kolkata: Today Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). This match will be played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata from 7:30 pm. Both KKR and Hyderabad have lost their first match, so today their eyes will be on opening the winning account. Knight Riders were defeated by Mumbai Indians in their first match, while Sunrisers lost against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Both the teams have strong batsmen, but bowling remains their biggest weakness.
Despite scoring more than 200 runs in the first match of the season, both the teams could not win. The reason for this was that their bowlers gave away runs easily. There is hope for Kolkata only when their spinners Varun Chakraborty and Sunil Narine return to their old form. At the same time, the restrictions imposed by Cricket Australia on the bowling of all-rounder Cameron Green are also a blow for KKR. However, the team does not have any special concerns in batting. Batsmen like captain Ajinkya Rahane, Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh give strength to the team.
On the other hand, no one doubts the strength of Sunrisers’ batting line-up, which was visible in the first match against RCB. The opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma can destroy any bowling attack. Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen, who came after him, also bat in the same style. If there is anything that makes Hyderabad weak, it is their bowling. The bowling unit of Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, Ishan Malinga and Nitish Kumar Reddy has not looked effective so far. Kolkata is waiting for its Sri Lankan pacer Mathisha Pathirana, while Hyderabad is waiting for its captain Pat Cummins to enter the field.
If we talk about the head-to-head matches between the two teams so far, then Kolkata clearly has the upper hand. Out of 30 matches played between the two, KKR has won 20, while Hyderabad has won only 10 matches. Eden Gardens is considered a strong fort of Night Riders. The team has won 54 out of 95 matches played here. There is a possibility of dew falling in Kolkata at night, so the team batting later after winning the toss may get the advantage.