Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Indian Premier League 2020, Today Match Prediction 18 Oct 2020

srh vs kkr Match Prediction & Analysis

In the 35th game of the IPL 2020, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders would be looking to beat their poor run. Both the sides come into this game with two consecutive losses. Sunrisers surrendered against Chennai Super Kings in their last game and Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a massive loss against the Mumbai Indians. A win for either side would help their cause of staying in the hunt for the playoffs. 

Both the sides have had a similar trajectory as far as their form this season is concerned. While Kolkata Knight Riders have struggled with the form of their batting line-up it has been inconsistency with the ball that has cost Sunrisers several games. Given the fact that both the teams are in the same kind of scenario at the moment this game is expected to be very close one.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Sunrisers Hyderabad Preview

It has been a season with mixed results for David Warner’s side. They have been troubled by injuries and come into this game with two consecutive losses. They lost the last game against the Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs where their batting line-up failed to meet up with the challenge. They had lost the earlier game against the KKR this season and Warner would like to even it out in this game.  

Their batting line-up is top heavy and the side would rely on openers Warner and Jonny Bairstow to get them off to a good start. This is vital for the side’s victory. Manish Pandey has struggled in the last few games but Kane Williamson is looking in good form at the moment. Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan don’t quite make up for the kind of hitting power as we have seen in other teams.  

Sandeep Sharma bowled well in the last game but the fast bowling attack looks weak after injuries to Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mitchell Marsh.  Khaleel Ahmed will have to do well for the side to pick early wickets. Rashid Khan has been brilliant but there is just too much of pressure on him at the moment and lack of good support. The side will need good efforts from T Natarajan and Shahbaz Nadeem in this game. 

Top Batsman – David Warner           
Top Bowler – Rashid Khan

Sunrisers Hyderabad Predicted Playing XI:

David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan

Sunrisers Hyderabad Actual Playing XI:

Vijay Shankar, T Natarajan, Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, S Sharma, KS Williamson, Basil Thampi, David Warner, Priyam Garg

Kolkata Knight Riders Preview

Change in leadership didn’t change the fortunes for the Knight Riders as Eoin Morgan led his side to a loss in the first game as skipper. They went down by 8 wickets against the Mumbai Indians in what was another display of poor form from the side with the bat. They will have to regain form with the bat to win this game. Morgan would take confidence from the fact that his opponents are in equally poor form at the moment. 

Rahul Tripathi and Shubman Gill have to get their side off to a good start. It is the opening combination that has troubled the side most. Nitish Rana and Dinesh Karthik are also not in their best of form and the side would need a strong hand from them in the middle. Morgan has done well but the side would be hoping for a good show from Andre Russell who is having a poor season. Pat Cummins showed the way in the bat in the last game and this would add to the side’s confidence. 

Cummins will be expected to do damage with the new ball in company of Chris Green. They leaked runs in the last game and need to avoid a similar show. Varun Chakravarthy is making good use of his skills which is a plus for the side. Russell bowled well in the last game and the side would be expecting better show with the ball from Shivam Mavi and Prasidh Krishna shall have to focus on bowling tight lines against a highly experienced batting line-up. 

Top Batsman – Shubman Gill     
Top Bowler – Pat Cummins 

Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted Playing XI:

Eoin Morgan (c), Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Chris Green, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

Kolkata Knight Riders Actual Playing XI:

Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, RA Tripathi

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

It will be a hot afternoon at Abu Dhabi where bowlers would find the conditions to be extremely tough to bowl. The pitch has slowed down a bit but still remains a good one to bat on. The fast outfield has aided the batsmen here. Given the kind of scores we have seen in the last few games the side that bats first would be happy to set a target above 170 runs here.

Venue Details

Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi is a big venue. The pitch here is however batting friendly and batsmen have scored lots of runs in the previous games. The outfield is fast and the ball races away to the boundary. Fast bowlers need to vary their line and length to bowl well here but the spinners do find good assistance on a slower surface where the odds ball can surprise the batsmen.    

Toss: To Bat

The wicket has gone slower in the last few games at this venue and the sides that chase the score have more pressure on them in the game. It is an afternoon game and the wicket will be the best to bat on in the first innings. Thus both the skippers should have little hesitation in opting to bat here once they win the toss.