Sunrisers Hyderadad (SRH) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), IPL 2017, Eliminator, preview and likely XI: Kolkata’s chance to avenge 2016

May 25, 2016. It was the Eliminator of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 held at Feroz Shah Kotla. Delhi. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were up against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). KKR had eased to wins in both the league games and started as favourites. SRH posted a modest 162 and KKR succumbed to a 22-run defeat courtesy Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s three-wicket haul. SRH later went on to win the tournament. A year on, in IPL 2017, we see a repeat in the Eliminator stage. It is another SRH-KKR clash; this time the venue is M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Full Cricket Scorecard: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), IPL 2017, Eliminator at Bengaluru

KKR can blame only themselves to blame for playing the Eliminator in the first place. At one stage they were competing for the top spot with MI. Then KKR suffered from a string of panic defeats to slump to the fourth position in the league stage. SRH suffered similar fortunes as well. For a major part of the tournament, both sides were in a far better position than Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), who have cruised to the finale.

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Head-to-head

Both sides have won their respective home games against each other. In the second match, at Hyderabad, SRH captain David Warner’s belligerent century had left KKR clueless. SRH, defending champions, had were the winner of their previous Eliminator, as mentioned above. However, when it comes to head-to-head, KKR have an upper hand. SRH have won 4 contests against KKR, while the latter have notched up 7 wins.

Injuries

There are injury worries in the SRH camp. They are set to miss the experience of Ashish Nehra, who has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. Yuvraj Singh’s inclusion will depend on his passing of the fitness test. There are doubts over Mohammad Nabi’s fitness as well.

KKR too have not been lucky in this aspect. They have lost the in-form Nathan Coulter-Nile to injury. Question marks remain over Suryakumar Yadav’s fitness too. They have also lost Shakib Al Hasan and Chris Woakes to national duties. However, they can draw solace from the fact that Robin Uthappa and Chris Lynn are back in the mix.

Team composition

Both sides have a lot to tinker with. While Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have worked fine at the top for SRH, KKR had a settled one in Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa. However, they to fiddle with it to accommodate Lynn and Sunil Narine at the top; the move has worked wonders but sporadically. Gambhir has not really fired at No. 3; with Uthappa moving down the order, the roles of Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan and Colin de Grandhomme have been reduced to playing the long handle.

Records had tumbled the last time Lynn and Narine batted in Bengaluru. Narine belted a fifty off 15 balls as KKR had raced to 105 after 6 overs.

SRH will have to take the brave call on Kane Williamson. The track at Bengaluru has proved to be slightly tricky with runs not coming easily, but Williamson was an exception. His inclusion will strengthen batting for all conditions but then having Nabi in the side, there is the extra off-spin option. Considering the fact that Lynn is not a great player of spin, SRH can add Nabi to their spin armoury alongside Rashid Khan. But then again, Gambhir is one of the finest players of spin and is the worth risk taking?

Of course, Hyderabad have both the Orange and the Purple Cap holders in their side. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will continue to lead their attack.

Likely XIs

With Mohammad Siraj and Siddarth Kaul doing well, SRH may have to take the tough call of dropping Nabi in favour of Williamson. After that fifty in the crucial game against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Vijay Shankar is likely to retain his place. With no Nabi, the fifth bowler role will have to be shared by Moises Henriques and Yuvraj.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Probable XI: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Vijay Shankar, Naman Ojha (wk), Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Siraj, Siddarth Kaul.

The KKR bowling attack looks formidable with variations in the pace department with Trent Boult, Umesh Yadav and Ankit Rajpoot. Then come Narine and Kuldeep Yadav. They have good back-up options in de Grandhomme and Yusuf. The only concern however is if its Warner’s day, he can reduce any attack in the world to the pulp.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Probable XI:  Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Gautam Gambhir (c), Robin Uthappa (wk), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Colin de Grandhomme, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Trent Boult, Ankit Rajpoot

Key Clashes

– David-Dhawan opening stand against a revamped Umesh

– The battle of the Tauranga lads: from school cricket to U-19 to playing for New Zealand, Williamson and Boult go a long way; they will look forward to better each other

– Gambhir’s ability to master spin vs Rashid’s mastery that has bamboozled many

– Yuvraj’s clean hits against Kuldeep’s guile

– Lynn-Narine aggression against a street-smart Bhuvneshwar

Predictions: KKR may not have peaked at the right time but they have the experience to lift themselves up at crucial junctures. However, if Warner decides to be the barrier and make it his day then it is definitely advantage SRH.

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Robin Uthappa (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Manish Pandey, Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine, Chris Woakes, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Darren Bravo, Ishank Jaggi, Chris Lynn, Colin de Grandhomme, Trent Boult, Rishi Dhawan, Sheldon Jackson, Ankit Rajpoot, Sayan Ghosh, Rovman Powell, Ramsingh Sanjay Yadav.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha (wk), Ben Cutting, Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ricky Bhui, Kane Williamson, Siddarth Kaul, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Vijay Shankar, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Nabi, Eklavya Dwivedi, Pravin Tambe, Ben Laughlin, Tanmay Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj.

TIME: 14.30 GMT | 20.00 IST