(Cricket news) For both the teams it will be a do or die fixture as they seem to have a very slim chance of qualifying for the playoffs, given their low tally of 10 points and their negative Net Run Rates. Delhi Capitals, with an NRR of +0.210 on the other hand, appear much better placed. But for both KKR and SRH, a victory isn't going to hurt whatever's left of their campaign.
For KKR their coach Brendon McCullum became the new England test match coach in the middle of KKR's campaign, meaning there's already a sense of flux in the camp and how the team responds to the news will be fascinating to watch. KKR will be without Pat Cummins for the entire campaign as he is flying back home after suffering a hip injury. In the batting department, KKR reverted back to their original opening partnership of Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkiya Rahane. Venkatesh's 24-ball 43 was essential to Knight Riders posting their first fifty opening stand with a score, 64 for 1 in the powerplay, against Mumbai Indians last match. KKR’s lower middle order of Rinku Singh and Andre Russell have been consistent this season but they need the top order to produce runs. In the bowling department, their highest wicket taker this Umesh Yadav needs to fit as they are missing that experience in the pace bowling department.
After 4 wins on the trot for SRH, their campaign has somewhat gone downhill due to the injuries in the squad. Sunrisers have tried out different bowling options, but Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, J Suchith and Shreyas Gopal haven't quite provided the control and wicket taking ability that Natarajan and Washington brought. The good news for Sunrisers fans is that both Natarajan and Washington are likely to be fit for this match. In the batting department, Captain Kane Williamson's powerplay strike rate of 79.52 is the lowest among batters who have faced more than 50 balls this season. His opening partner Abhishek Sharma's form has also cooled off after a hot start but their middle order of Aidan Markarm and Nicholas Pooran have been consistent with their performances. In the bowling department, Shreyas Iyer struggles against Bhuvneshwar Kumar, having scored 44 runs in 49 balls and dismissing him 3 times at an average of 14.67 with a strike-rate: 89.79. Since his five wicket haul, Umran Malik has figures of 4-0-48-0, 4-0-52-0 and 2-0-25-0, which needs to improve if they are to make the playoffs.
Pitch and weather report: The toss in Pune matters a lot as nine of the 12 games in Pune have been won by teams batting first but teams are still reluctant to defend totals. Last match we saw the pitch being on the slower side as the spinners played a massive part in the game. The temperature is going to hover around 26 degrees with no chance of rain as dew will not be a factor in the second innings.
Interesting facts:
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the edge over Rahane in the IPL, having got him six times in 15 innings while keeping him to 89 runs off 96 balls
- Andre Russell has smashed Bhuvneshwar for 51 off 21 balls at a strike rate of nearly 243 while getting just once in the IPL.
- This is going to be Shreyas Iyer's 100th IPL game.
- Sunrisers Hyderabad have won only one out of their five IPL matches in Pune.
- Kolkata Knight Riders have won seven out of eight IPL matches in Pune.
Also read: Punjab Kings demolish RCB by 54 runs riding on half-centuries from Bairstow, Livingstone
Probable XI for KKR:
1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Sam Billings (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Umesh Yadav/Shivam Mavi, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
Probable XI for SRH:
1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Washington Sundar/J Suchith, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Marco Jansen/Fazalhaq Farooqi/Romario Shepherd, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T Natarajan/Kartik Tyagi
