The Kolkata Knight Riders will be anxious for their spinners to recover the bite against Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL encounter between two batting-heavy teams in Kolkata on Thursday,
The three-time winners will play three games in seven days and another on April 19 before the Kolkata leg breaks for almost a month owing to the impending assembly polls. This match also signals the beginning of a critical home stretch for the team.
KKR understands how important it is to gain momentum during this phase, as they have four away games left and their next home match is only set for May 16. Since 2008, KKR have won 54 of 95 games at the Eden Gardens.
However, given their limited bowling resources, KKR’s start has already seen a few early setbacks. Although they appeared to have put together a well-rounded pace attack, their potency had been diminished by injuries and availability problems.
Cameron Green, their Rs 25.20 crore overseas purchase, is currently only available as a batter; Harshit Rana and Akash Deep are out; and Matheesha Pathirana has not yet received a NOC from Sri Lanka Cricket. They were unable to defend 220 in their first game against the Mumbai Indians, which ruthlessly highlighted their lack of depth.
KKR’s inability to penetrate with the new ball was highlighted by Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton’s 148-run opening partnership in just 72 balls.
However, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy’s struggles will be the greater concern. Narine bowled just three overs and was only brought in after the Powerplay, while Chakravarthy went wicketless and gave up 48 runs.
Due to Cricket Australia’s workload management directives, Green, who hit 18 off 10 balls, did not bowl.
Given Rovman Powell’s established T20 capabilities and the fact that Green isn’t being employed as a bowler, it’s unclear if KKR will be inclined to add the West Indian.
Powell has fond memories of Eden Gardens after smashing an undefeated 34 off 19 balls in a Super Eight match against India. Powell scored 149 runs at a strike rate of 147.52 during the T20 World Cup.
The surface is anticipated to be a sporting one, supporting both seamers and spinners, despite KKR’s reported request for a turning track, with 200 regarded as a par total. Narine and Chakravarthy must therefore take the initiative.
Although captain Ajinkya Rahane’s blazing start may give KKR hope, his slowing in the middle overs is still a cause for concern.
Rahane scored just 31 off 22 balls without a boundary after racing to 36 off 18 balls during the power play against Mumbai. Rahane has been one of the most successful power play batters since IPL 2023, collecting 544 runs in 30 innings at an average of about 77.5 and a strike rate above 170, so the tendency is not new.
However, his strike rate drops precipitously to 124 in the middle overs, which is when KKR lost steam against MI as they failed to score 20–30 extra runs.
After losing to the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru to begin the season, Sunrisers Hyderabad are now in a similar situation. Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Travis Head make up SRH elite top order.
However, they failed to defend 201 against RCB, and their bowling appears susceptible, particularly without Pat Cummins, who has not yet regained full match fitness. SRH will have to cope without their captain for the time being, but the Australian captain has returned to bowling in the nets and hopes to make a comeback in the midst of the competition.
Bowlers like Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel, and Eshan Malinga found it difficult to restrict the opposition in the first game. After Abhishek and Head fell cheaply in the previous game, SRH will also be expecting more from their top order.
KKR have won 20 of the 30 matches, while SRH have only won 10. KKR have won eight of their 11 home games against SRH at Eden Gardens, which has been their stronghold.
KKR Probable XI: Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Varun Chakravarthy
SRH Probable XI: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (captain), Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, Brydon Carse and Jaydev Unadkat
