Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad
26/9/20, 3pm (BST), Abu Dhabi
WINNER
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS – 1/1
V
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD – 4/5
Match Preview
Both sides, historically strong performers in the IPL, have made losing starts this year having found it tough going while chasing the game.
KKR had a chastening night against Mumbai Indians and Rohit Sharma, with star bowler Pat Cummins going the distance and Andre Russell arriving at the crease with the game all-but over after some indifferent top-order batting.
They will be looking more from openers Sunil Narine and Shubman Gill to set a platform for Russell and Eoin Morgan, while Sunrisers are looking for the middle order to chip in after relying too heavily on Jonny Bairstow last time out.
David Warner’s side look very top-heavy with the bat and could find it difficult chasing big scores unless their overseas openers fire regularly.
Our Prediction
Sunrisers Hyderabad highest score in first 6 overs – 4/5
Warner and Bairstow are the strongest opening partnership in the tournament, striking at 148 and 158 last year respectively, and have flourished together while also going on to make significant personal contributions and that is sure to continue this year.
Gill and Narine struggled by comparison and KKR don’t look like they know their best batting line-up, so Sunrisers should be guaranteed to get off to the best start.
Cummins will be desperate to prove his price tag was justified after a poor opening and is 7/4 to take over 1.5 wickets, while Bhuvi Kumar is the same price in the same market and could exploit the weak KKR top order,
Top Run-scorers
KKR | SH |
Pat Cummins – 33 | Jonny Bairstow – 61 |
Dinesh Karthik – 30 | Manish Pandey – 34 |
Nitish Rana – 24 | Priyam Garg – 12 |
Eoin Morgan – 16 | Sandeep Sharma – 9 |
Top Wicket-takers
KKR | SH |
Shivam Mavi – 2 | Abhishek Sharma -1 |
Sunil Narine – 1 | T Natarajan – 1 |
Andre Russell – 1 | Vijay Shankar – 1 |
PREVIOUS PREDICTIONS
MATCH | SELECTION | ODDS |
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore | David Warner to score a fifty | 13/8 |
Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians | Andre Russell to hit the most sixes | 3/1 |