IPL 2019: Match 2, KKR vs SRH, Preview – Knight Riders look to avenge 2018 Qualifier defeat against the Orange Army

The Knights lost both their matches against SRH last year at the Eden Gardens.

Published - 23 Mar 2019, 21:06 IST | Updated - 23 Mar 2019, 21:06 IST

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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) don’t have fond memories of playing against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) when the teams last faced off in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In last year’s Qualifier 2 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, KKR bowed out of the tournament after a defeat against the Orange Army. After a year, the two teams are all set to lock horns in their respective opening matches.

In fact, last year, KKR lost both their encounters against SRH at the iconic venue, though the hosts have a favourable record against the Sunrisers. In the meantime, the team has undergone quite a few alterations ahead of this season. The Men in Gold and Purple already witnessed three of their players- all fast bowlers, succumbing to injuries and getting ruled out of the tournament.

However, they have managed to rope in the appropriate replacements, much to their relief. On the other hand, SRH has got back their star batsman in David Warner, who didn’t play the last season. Moreover, the team management also announced that Kane Williamson will shoulder the captaincy mantle. All in all, a cracker of an encounter can be expected tomorrow in the City of Joy.

Team Combination

Kolkata Knight Riders

The explosive pair of Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn will open the batting followed by the experienced Robin Uthappa. Then comes in the young duo of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana. The team would be looking up to the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell to get some quick runs down the order. Chawla and Kuldeep are the spinners while Ferguson and Krishna are the fast bowlers.

Probable XI

Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (C & WK), Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Warner and Williamson form the opening duo with Manish Pandey at number three. The in-form Vijay Shankar has a massive role to play as well. Shakib Al Hasan would be taking the field at his former IPL home ground on his birthday. Pathan and Wriddhiman are the other men in the middle order. Khaleel and Kaul are the genuine pacers with Rashid Khan being the sole specialist spinner.

Probable XI

David Warner, Kane Williamson (C), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed

Toss

Kolkata Knight Riders win the toss, opt to field first

PLAYING-XI-Kolkata-Knight-Riders-VS-Sunrisers-Hyderabad

Focus will be on

Sunil Narine- Kolkata Knight Riders

The Trinidadian has been a fulcrum of the KKR setup over the last many years. In the last two seasons, he has also shown his ferocity with the willow in hand. The experienced campaigner has been in good form, though he missed playing for Lahore Qalandars due to a finger injury. Prior to that, he had a good season for Dhaka Dynamites and he would be looking to step up in the IPL 2019 as well.

David Warner- Sunrisers Hyderabad

The New South Wales-born has had a fairytale with the Sunrisers until last year when he couldn’t play after being suspended owing to the ball-tampering scandal at the Newlands in Cape Town that turned his career around. The left-handed batsman has won the Orange Cap as many as twice for the team and the southpaw would be desperate to restamp his authority on the tournament.

Head to Head

Matches – 15 | KKR won – 9 | SRH won – 6 | NR – 0

Stat Attack

25 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only player to bag more than 20 wickets in the IPL against the Knight Riders. He has an average of 19.04 and picked up wickets at an SR of 15.6 against KKR.

437 – Robin Uthappa’s 437 in the IPL against Sunrisers are the 2nd most by any player. Virat Kohli’s 485 runs are the most in the league history against SRH. Uthappa scored those runs from 15 innings at an average of 29.13 with two fifties.