🏏IPL 2025- KKR vs SRH match 15th, 7:30pm IST at Eden Gardens 🏏

🏏IPL 2025- SRH vs KKR, Match 15th, 7:30pm IST at Eden Gardens 🏏

KKR vs SRH: Last year's finalists clash with problems to solve

Last season's finalists have been off the boil in IPL 2025

The last time Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) met, it was in the IPL 2024 final. But three games into IPL 2025, they are at the wrong end of the points table. SRH are eighth and KKR tenth, and the only team either of them have beaten is Rajasthan Royals, sandwiched in between at ninth.

For defending champions KKR, their whole batting line-up has been fragile. Last season, their opening partnership set games up by averaging 43.9 at a strike-rate of 207. This season they are averaging 15.3 and striking at 100. The batters between Nos. 4 to 8 - which includes the retained quartet of Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh - are averaging 17.22 and striking at 117.3. They appear to have picked up a vulnerability to the short ball too. Nine of the 12 KKR dismissals to fast bowling this season are to balls pitched between the 8 and 10 metre mark or shorter.

SRH have had poor powerplays with both bat and ball. The shots off Abhishek Sharma's bat have sounded sweet but he has scored only 31 runs in three innings. Against Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals, their batters kept attacking even as wickets tumbled to finish with totals that turned out to be below-par. Their fast bowling was supposed to be an upgrade but they've not made an impact in the first six overs. Their powerplay economy (11.4) is the poorest among all teams this year, and even with the quality of Pat Cummins, Mohammed Shami and Harshal Patel, the economy rate (11.7) of their pace attack is in the doldrums. Only RR's quicks (11.8) have fared worse.

Although both teams are facing similar issues, their approaches remain different. Cummins said after the last defeat that SRH will not change their batting plan, while KKR mentor Dwayne Bravo said on match-eve their batters will have to move beyond being aggressive and be crafty. Thursday will show which philosophy succeeds.

The finalists of IPL 2024 are finally facing off this season. Their respective situations though, aren't as pleasant in 2025. Three games down, Kolkata Knight Riders sit at the bottom of the table while Sunrisers Hyderabad find themselves only two places higher a day ahead of their clash at Eden Gardens.

The two teams that piled on big scores last season, could potentially find themselves engaged in a low-scoring contest on Thursday. The stubborn standoff between Kolkata Knight Riders and the pitch curator at Eden Gardens seems to have come to an end, and at least for now it seems like the franchise has had its way.

A day ahead of the contest against Sunrisers Hyderabad, two pitches were kept - a dry surface and a drier surface - and it is understood that the franchise has been allowed to take a final call on the surface they wish to play on. They have opted for the driest one.

Even as the IPL rules do not allow for the franchises to dictate the making of the pitches, KKR are not alone to raise their grievance on the surface they would like to play their home games on. Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants have also joined the chorus in recent days.

Dwayne Bravo, the mentor of KKR, made his stance clear ahead of the game - assess the conditions, adjust to the conditions, irrespective of what the pitch is. While he claimed that the message was for his players, it could also serve as a subtle warning to their upcoming opposition, Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have thrived on flat tracks since last season and will now be put up against a new challenge.

SRH may not have the best spin attack on paper, but their batting firepower against spin cannot be taken lightly. While KKR's effort to draw themselves out of the bottom position using spin seems like a prudent decision, it could also potentially misfire against the Pat Cummins-led side.

Last season at this venue, both teams piled on 200-plus totals. A repeat of that is unlikely to happen on Thursday, but it would surely give a twist to a tournament which is increasingly become a mere boundary-fest, threateningly boring.

When: Thursday, April 3, 2025, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Eden Gardens, Kolkata

What to expect: As mentioned above, a dry surface. Even if SRH don't have too many high-quality spin options, they do have batters well-equipped to counter the tweakers, against whom they are likely to be tested.

Head to head: KKR have historically had the edge over SRH with a 19-9 win-loss record. Since 2020, they have won nine out of 11 games against SRH.

Team Watch:

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Injuries/Unavailability: Anrich Nortje is 'close to' full fitness as mentioned by Dwayne Bravo. He is likely to be unavailable for the game.

Tactics & Matchups: Moeen Ali could come in as the third spin option, in place of Spencer Johnson who hasn't been able to make much impact so far. His presence would also some muscle to the batting which hasn't quite clicked for KKR this season.

Probable XII: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Moeen Ali, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Injuries/Unavailability: No injuries have been reported.

Tactics & Matchups: Pat Cummins has enjoyed a fair bit of success against Sunil Narine, dismissing the southpaw twice in seven deliveries in IPL. He could come into the attack early. Also, given the number of left-handers in KKR's side, Travis Head could have some additional work with the ball.

Probable XII: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar/Zeeshan Ansari, Adam Zampa

Team news: No major injury concerns

SRH are expected to back their primary XII, but the type of pitch (more on that later) could dictate whether they play Adam Zampa, Wiaan Mulder, seamer Simarjeet Singh or spinner Zeeshan Ansari. Anrich Nortje, KKR's fastest bowler, is still not match ready.

Big question

Adam Zampa made a return to the IPL on the back of great performances since 2024. In that period, his 50 appearances have brought 76 wickets at a strike rate of 14.3 and economy of 7.7. He is especially useful between overs 7-16 since 2024, where he has bowled 80% of all his overs. Is it time for him to be a permanent fixture in SRH's line-up?

In the spotlight: Aniket Verma and Andre Russell

Nitish Kumar Reddy was SRH's standout domestic player in 2024 and the team has found another exciting talent in Aniket Verma this season. Even with wickets tumbling, Aniket, bought for INR 30 lakh, has found a way to smash bowlers. His 13-ball 36 against LSG was a trailer of what would follow as he went on to hammer a 41-ball 74 against DC. Aniket has been among the most destructive players of spin in IPL 2025, hitting them for a boundary once every three balls, at a strike rate of 238. His 11 sixes against spin is second only to Nicholas Pooran's 12. With KKR possessing Narine and Varun Chakravarthy in their bowling XI, will Aniket continue his dominance?

Since the end of IPL 2024, Andre Russell has scored only 586 runs in 41 T20 games at an average of 18.9. He also has just nine runs in two innings this IPL. Last season, Russell had given KKR power at the death, averaging 31.20 with a strike-rate of 185. His highest score in IPL 2024 of 64 not out came against SRH at Eden Gardens.

Pitch and conditions: Turn on the cards?

The surface at Eden Gardens has been in focus over the last week. The pitch that was used in the season opener against RCB backfired on KKR, with the captain Rahane asking for something slower that would suit the team's spinners. Two pitches have been prepared for this fixture, both having very little grass, which suggests the team's demand may well have been met.

Did you know?

SRH had the worst bowling average (37.54) and the second-worst economy rate (9.89), marginally better than DC (9.95) in IPL 2024. Their economy rate continues to be the worst in IPL 2025

Sunil Narine has gone wicketless in 14 of his 25 IPL outings vs SRH

SRH have the best scoring rate in the powerplay this season (11.88), but have also lost seven wickets in this phase (the most by any team)

Key Stats: SRH's dependency on their openers

KKR won all three games against SRH in IPL 2024: one league game, the first qualifier and the final. KKR have also won eight of the last ten matches against SRH.

KKR have the second-lowest powerplay run-rate (7.8) this season, ahead of only CSK's 7.4. They also have the joint worst powerplay bowling strike-rate of 54.

Travis Head has the second highest strike-rate against fast bowling (206) since IPL 2024 (min. 100 balls faced). Abhishek Sharma has the best IPL strike-rate of 206 for the first ten deliveries of an innings (min. 75 balls)

Heinrich Klaasen has never been dismissed by Sunil Narine in five IPL innings, scoring 34 runs off 22 balls. Against Varun Chakravarthy, Klaasen has scored 35 runs off 20 balls, but has been dismissed once.

SRH have an 80% win record when both Head and Abhishek survive the powerplay. It drops to 71% when one of them is dismissed and dips to 17% when both are out.

What they said:

I don't know much about pitches. For me, the team who plays the best on the day will win. So, whether the pitch is slow, whether it's turning, whether it's not turning, my advice to the players will always be to make the necessary assessments, and play according to the conditions - Dwayne Bravo, KKR's Mentor

Both teams have very long batting line-ups. To get through them is not easy. Last game that we were here, it was a 200 plays 200. It was a close game. Looking forward to another one of those - Ryan Cook, SRH's fielding coach