Overview
Cricket fans are eagerly awaiting match #19 of the Indian Premier League (IPL), between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad, which will take place at the iconic Eden Gardens on Friday.
KKR are riding high after a record-breaking three-wicket victory against the Gujarat Titans. Of their three matches till now, KKR have won two (against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans) and lost one (against Punjab Kings) by a narrow margin on the DLS method. However, despite their recent victories, Chandrakant Pandit, their coach, may have concerns over the form of his top-order batters. They have struggled in the powerplay overs, losing 7 wickets so far, the worst record among all the franchises.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, recently notched up their first points of the season, defeating Punjab Kings by eight wickets. Mayank Markande, their leg-spinner, made an impressive debut, returning figures of 4-15 to help restrict Punjab to 143-9. In their chase, all four batters that came to the crease made double figures, with Rahul Tripathi’s 48-ball 74 (10×4, 3×6) the top score.
! #AmiKKR | #TATAIPL 2023 pic.twitter.com/7fuwElyegz
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 13, 2023
Aiden Markram, the Hyderabad captain, was pleased with his team’s performance and hopes to carry that momentum forward. In the upcoming match, Sunrisers Hyderabad may well play both Markande and Adil Rashid, their frontline spinner, making a formidable spin pairing.
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It should be noted that KKR’s recent victory against Gujarat Titans was largely due to the heroics of their lower-order batters. Although KKR has an impressive head-to-head record against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the visitors cannot be underestimated. The crowds that flock to Eden Gardens on Boisakh day can expect another thrilling contest.
Mic’d up. Fired up. Fazalhaq
Catch all the unfiltered action from our fiery #Riser‘s training sesh @fazalfarooqi10 | #OrangeFireIdhi #OrangeArmy #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/8No0WXzLZk
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 13, 2023
Venue and Time
Eden Gardens, Kolkata. 7:30 PM IST
Expected conditions and toss
The Eden Gardens is once again expected to dish out a sporting wicket that will aide both pacers and spinners, while also helping batters score big runs. Since dew is expected in the hot and humid conditions, the bowlers may have some issues gripping the ball in the second innings. The team that wins the toss is expected to chase.
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Head-to-Head
The two-time champions, KKR, will be looking to extend their impressive 15-8 head-to-head (H2H) lead over Sunrisers Hyderabad, champions in 2016.
Possible XIs and Impact Player Watch
For KKR, Suyash Sharma could be their impact player if they are defending a target. If chasing, then Mandeep Singh may come in for a specialist bowler like Suyash or Varun Chakaravarthy.
For SRH, Abhishek Sharma could be a handy Impact Player if chasing. If defending a total, then the likes of Kartik Tyagi or Mayank Dagar could come in handy.
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Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz/Jason Roy, N Jagadeesan (WK), Nitish Rana (C), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Suyash Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mayank Agarwal, Harry Brook, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (C), Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.