Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders will be up against each other in Dubai on Sunday. This might be a dead rubber for SRH but KKR would probably look at this clash as an opportunity to grab a couple of crucial points with the race for the last two playoffs’ spots becoming more intense by each passing day.
Moreover, the Knight Riders’ defeat at the hands of Punjab Kings has put them in a spot of bother. The game against a depleted SRH is an opportunity for KKR to stay alive in the tournament.
The Kolkata-based franchise have got a stable opening combination after the introduction of Venkatesh Iyer who along with Shubman Gill has been able to give the side steady starts during the UAE leg of the IPL 2021.
Apart from these two, Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana too have been scoring some decent amount runs consistently. But the failure of middle-order with the bat and sloppy fielding are some of the major concerns for the Kolkata team management.
On the other side, SRH have suffered defeats in nine out of the 11 matches that they have played in this edition and have already been knocked out of the tournament. But the Sunrisers did make some changes in their line up and included Jason Roy in place of former skipper David Warner.
The right-hander scored a half-century in the first match that he played while failing to leave a mark in the next encounter. The Hyderabad side has faced a major issue of batting collapse and not scoring enough runs in the middle overs which has pushed them on the back foot.
Barring Jason Holder, none of the batsmen have chipped in with some aggressive batting performance which eventually prevented SRH from putting up big scores on the board.
Talking about the last match between SRH and KKR, Kolkata rode on some brilliant batting from Rana and Tripathi and a brisk knock from wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik to put 187/6 in 20 overs.
Later, Manish Pandey and Jonny Bairstow scored individual fifties but failed to take the team over the line and lost the match by 10 runs.
Match Details
Date – Sunday, October 03, 2021
Time – 7:30 PM IST
Venue – Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Broadcast: Star Sports Network and Disney Hotstar
Pitch Report
The last encounter at the venue saw some runs being scored in both innings. While Venkatesh Iyer was on song for KKR while batting first, PBKS captain KL Rahul was too among the runs. Opener Mayank Agarwal chipped in with a valuable 27-ball 40 while Shahrukh Khan played a cameo of 9-ball 27 to see the side home.
The track is expected to behave in the same manner and the batsmen would have to get their eye in before they start to accelerate. So, if you win the toss, elect to bat as the surface is unlikely to tweak much as the game progresses.
Missing piece in the puzzle for KKR
KKR skipper Eoin Morgan has failed to cross the double-figure mark in the second half of the IPL and this probably is one of the major reasons for Kolkata’s middle-order batting woes.
A batsman of Morgan’s calibre has the ability to hold the fort from one end but his lean patch has created pressure on others. KKR have been getting some decent starts especially in the UAE leg and if Morgan gets among runs, the side would be unstoppable.
Fielding - A headache for KKR
“Initially we didn’t field that well, we put catches down, myself early and other guys, it has cost us," Morgan said during a post-match interview with the broadcasters after the game against Punjab Kings. In fact, PBKS won the match off a catch that went begging by the fielder at deep mid-wicket region.
The Knight Riders are at such a crucial junction in the tournament that they can’t really afford to miss the trick in the field especially when you have Brendon McCullum in the coaching staff.
Team News
SRH: The Sunrisers Hyderabad have already been eliminated from the tournament but the result of this match can put a major impact on the playoff scenarios.
KKR: The Kolkata Knight Riders were without the services of all-rounder Andre Russell against PBKS after he had sustained a hamstring injury during the match against Chennai Super Kings. There is no update on whether he will be available for the game against SRH or not. McCullum admitted that it is difficult to get the balance after such a void is created in the line up.
“In terms of the balance, when you take out a world class all-rounder like Russell, it’s always difficult to balance your side,” the former New Zealand skipper said.
Probable XI
KKR: Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy
SRH: Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul
Fantasy XI
Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Jason Holder (vc), Venkatesh Iyer (c), Shivam Mavi, Rashid Khan, Varun Chakravarthy