The Sunrisers Hyderabad face the Kolkata Knight Riders in match 35 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Here’s the breakdown.
The SWOT for SRH
Strengths: T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed and Sandeep Sharma have managed well so far without Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Together, they’ve got 21 wickets. Rashid Khan has got 10 wickets at an economy of 5.34.
Weaknesses: SRH rely too heavily on the top four. The batting drops off a cliff after Jonny Bairstow, David Warner, Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson. The Indian batsmen are still adapting to their roles and will need to learn consistency.
Opportunities: KKR is in transition under a new captain, so SRH will want to capitalise on this match.
Threats: SRH are in the hunt for a play-off spot but the competition is tight with three other teams fighting for the same spot.
The SWOT for KKR
Strengths: Eoin Morgan is an inspirational captain. Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi have made vital contributions. Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Prasidh Krishna have also shown flashes of brilliance.
Weaknesses: KKR’s batting seemed weaker in the last few matches. Gill’s early season form has evaporated and there have been too many changes in the batting order. Andre Russell’s weakness against the short ball has been exposed. Former skipper Dinesh Karthik needs to desperately find his 2018 form.
Opportunities: Can they bring back Sunil Narine? It doesn’t seem likely from the recent evidence. The team is much weaker without him. Can Chris Green take on the lead spinner role? Lockie Ferguson also needs to be tried out.
Threats: The change of leadership halfway through the season has created uncertainty. The team capitulated in Morgan’s first match in charge. Morgan has no more time to waste and needs to hit the ground running. KKR are still in fourth place but can they hang on?
Head to head:
Matches played: 18
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 7
Kolkata Knight Riders: 11
Last five matches:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: L-L-W-L-W
Kolkata Knight Riders: L-L-W-W-L
What happened in the reverse fixture?
Shubman Gill made 70 not out and guided KKR to a win by eight wickets. He was named the man of the match.
Deccan Herald’s Dream XI
David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Eoin Morgan, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Varun Chakravarthy, T Natarajan, Shivam Mavi, Khaleel Ahmed
Team news
No injuries reported from either team.
Ground conditions
The temperature will be around 35 degrees Celsius. It will be sunny. The humidity will be about 27%.
Impact player for SRH
David Warner: The Aussie batman is his team’s leading run-scorer with two fifties and a total of 284 runs. He needs to get a set of big scores for SRH to push for a play-off spot.
Impact player for KKR
Eoin Morgan: He needs to inspire a failing batting line-up and lead from the front with the bat. His experience of leading a World Cup-winning side will be useful in guiding the team through a difficult phase.
How to watch
The match will be broadcast live on the Star Sports network. Viewers can also catch the action online on Disney+Hotstar. The match begins at 3.30 PM IST.
