Today’s IPL Match KKR vs SRH: The IPL 2024 season heads to the business end with the Qualifier 1 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday evening. The Qualifier 1 and Eliminator match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals, scheduled for Wednesday, will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
The lack of game-time in the last two games, which were washed out due to inclement weather conditions, shouldn’t affect KKR‘s preparations for this game. However, the main concern for them is finding the replacement for Phil Salt, who left for England to play in the T20I series against Pakistan. Whoever comes into KKR’s Playing XI will have to perform at the same level as Salt did.
Other than the openers’ issue, KKR doesn’t have a gaping issue in their Playing XI. They are one of the most settled squads in the league and that’s one of the big reasons for their consistency this season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are more or less in the same category. Just like KKR, their Playing XI is also settled. The likes of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are in red-hot form, while the middle-order is stocked with hard-hitters such as Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Today’s IPL Match KKR vs SRH – Key Players
Batters:
Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell for Kolkata Knight Riders
With 461 runs in 12 innings, Sunil Narine is the leading scorer for KKR in IPL 2024. Not only the runs, but it’s the strike-rate, which is 182.93, which has hurt the opponent the most. The 35-year-old has scored one century and three 50+ scores this season.
As Phil Salt is no longer with the team, Shreyas Iyer will have to take even more responsibility as a batsman. He might bat higher up the order and that means, there will be more chance for him to get a big score. In 12 innings, Shreyas has scored 287 runs this season.
Venkatesh Iyer holds the key for KKR as well. With scored of 70 off 52 and 41 off 21 in two of the last three innings, he has certainly come alive in the last few games.
Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen for Sunrisers Hyderabad
Travis Head might have got out on the first ball in the last match against Punjab Kings, but he has been one of the most consistent batters in IPL 2024. With 533 runs in 12 innings, the 30-year-old is the 3rd highest scorer in the league at the moment. Head has a strike-rate of over 200 as well which makes him a dangerous player for KKR.
Abhishek Sharma showed his class once again during a 28-ball 66-run innings against Punjab Kings. During that scintillating innings, the 23-year-old hit five fours and the maximum six times, taking his runs tally for the season to 467 runs in 13 innings.
If KKR manages to see the back of Head and Sharma then they will have to face Heinrich Klaasen, who is easily the most destructive batsman in the world. The 32-year-old South African played a crucial innings of 42 runs off 26 balls against Punjab Kings, while for the season, he has 381 runs in 12 innings.
Bowlers:
Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine and Harshit Rana for Kolkata Knight Riders
Varun Chakaravarthy didn’t make the best of the start to his IPL 2024 campaign after picking up just 8 wickets in the first 8 outings. But the 32-year-old has regained his form with 10 wickets in the last four matches. With 18 wickets, he is KKR’s leading wicket-taker and sit 4th on the Purple Cap list leading up to this game.
Sunil Narine can’t do wrong these days. He is scoring runs and taking wickets as well. In addition to being the top-scorer for KKR, Narine has also claimed the 3rd most wickets for KKR this season, having taken 15 wickets in 12 innings.
Harshit Rana, Mitchell Starc and Andre Russell are the main fast bowlers in the team. The trio has taken 43 wickets this season. Rana, in particular, has impressed the most with his bowling. His aggression goes hand in hand with his performance on the pitch.
T Natarajan, Pat Cummins and Bhuveneshwar Kumar for Sunrisers Hyderabad
After a couple of average performances, T Natarajan roared back into the form with a 2-33 return in four overs in the last match against Punjab Kings. He is SRH’s main bowler during the death overs. His ability to mix pace and hitting the yorker length makes him a dream bowler for any captain. The 33-year-old is also the leading wicket-taker for SRH this season, having taken 7 wickets in 11 innings this season.
Pat Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar need no introduction. Both have been top performers in the international circuit for quite some time now. They hold the key for SRH, as their four-over spell can make or break the game for their team.
KKR vs SRH Head To Head Record
In 32 head-to-head games, Kolkata Knight Riders have won 17 times, while Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to win only nine games. KKR also won the reverse fixture this season by four runs.
Head to head:
Total Matches | 32 |
KKR Wins | 17 |
SRH Wins | 09 |
No Result | 00 |
KKR vs SRH Pitch Report
The Narendra Modi Stadium is a pitch which is renowned to support batsmen. On any day, the team batting first can easily score 180+ runs. However, the spinners can get some assistance from the pitch as the ball gets old.
Playing XI Of Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
- Openers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine
- No-3 and no-4: Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer
- Middle-order: Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh
- Lower-order and Bowlers: Andre Russell, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
- Impact Player: Vaibhav Arora
Playing XI of Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders
- Openers: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma
- No-3 and no-4: Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Middle-order: Heinrich Klaasen, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad, Sanvir Singh
- Lower-order and Bowlers: Pat Cummins (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth
- Impact Player: T Natarajan