🏏IPL 2023: Match 47 - KKR vs SRH on 04/05/2023 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

🏏IPL 2023: Match 47 - KKR vs SRH at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on 04/05/2023 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

Tag & Logo Credit: Sevenstreaks

Knight Riders and Sunrisers look to keep their playoffs hopes alive

Both sides have struggled with their opening combinations and will be looking to address it sooner than later

Can Brook rekindle Eden memories?

Two misfiring teams that currently make up the bottom half of the points table clash to keep their IPL campaigns alive. Kolkata Knight Riders need to win every game from here on to get to 16 points, which is generally considered a safe number. Sunrisers Hyderabad also have just six points at this stage but they have the cushion of an extra game in hand and the home advantage to boot for Thursday's game.

Another thing that's common is that both sides have struggled with their opening combinations. KKR have tried six pairs so far, the most among all teams, while Sunrisers have shunted Harry Brook and Abhishek Sharma up and down based on conditions and match-ups.

Brook, though, will have happy memories of hitting a hundred against KKR when they met at Eden Gardens earlier in the season. It was a high-scoring game that Sunrisers pulled off. It's all the more significant for Brook given he has contributed precious little with the bat since. Abhishek came good as an opener in the previous game against Delhi Capitals, so he's likely to continue there, and Brook in the middle order.

KKR are yearning for a good start from their openers. Jason Roy missed the Gujarat Titans game with a back niggle; his return could inject some positivity as he had scored two sprightly half-centuries in two games before that. Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana have been doing the heavy lifting in the middle order but Andre Russell has shown only glimpses of the destructive force he can is known to be.

When two sides that have very little to lose compete, there's often an inherent sense of freedom. And that could make this a compelling contest.

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders Pitch Report

The pitch at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium is expected to offer a balanced track for the game with a bit of help for everyone. There will be some swing on offer for the seamers initially, while the spinners will be able to extract turn in the middle overs. The batters will need to be a bit cautious initially, while they can exploit the conditions later on.

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders Weather Forecast

Light rain is predicted on Thursday in Hyderabad, with temperatures expected to range between 23 and 31 degrees Celsius.

Pitch conditions

Hyderabad has been lashed by intermittent showers over the past three days. Cloudy skies are expected on Thursday. That means the surface, which has been under the covers for much of the build-up to the game, may have some moisture that fast bowlers could exploit. As such, spinners have been slightly more successful at this venue this season: an economy of 7.70 and strike rate of 19.3, compared to 8.18 and 19.7 respectively for fast bowlers.

Form guide - (last five matches, most recent first)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: WLLLW (last five matches, most recent first)

Kolkata Knight Riders: LWLLL

Team news - Shardul available, Umesh to miss out again

Both sides have had players troubled by hamstrings injuries. Umesh Yadav will continue to sit out for KKR. Sunrisers haven't replaced Washington Sundar, who is off to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to nurse his hamstring injury. But don't have any other injury concerns. KKR have called up West Indies' Johnson Charles to replace Litton Das.

Impact Player strategy

Sunrisers will possibly stick to what they did in the previous game - using T Natarajan as an additional seamer and swapping him with Abdul Samad in the batting innings.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable XII): 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram (capt), 5 Harry Brook, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Akeal Hosein, 9 Mayank Markande, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Umran Malik, 12 T Natarajan

Roy should slot back in to open with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is likely to take over the wicketkeeping gloves from N Jagadeesan. Jagadeesan may be subbed out for either Harshit Rana or Vaibhav Arora when they bowl.

Kolkata Knight Riders (probable XII): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 N Jagadeesan/Mandeep Singh, 4 Venkatesh Iyer, 5 Nitish Rana, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Harshit Rana, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Vaibhav Arora

Stats that matter - should Russell bat higher up?

• Rahul Tripathi once shared the KKR dressing room with him but has now faced the second-most balls (48) without being dismissed by Sunil Narine in T20s. Tripathi has scored 71 runs off those balls at a strike rate of 147.91.
• Russell vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar in T20s has so far been a no-contest. Russell has walloped him for 72 off 34 balls for two dismissals. His strike rate of 211.76 is the second-best to Rishabh Pant's 239.39 among those who have faced a minimum of 25 balls from Bhuvneshwar.
• Bhuvneshwar, however, has had the wood over Roy, having dismissed him three times in 11 innings while conceding just 64 off 70 balls. That could make KKR consider using Roy in the middle order, as they did against Chennai Super Kings when he made a bruising 26-ball 61 in a chase of 236.
• Since IPL 2022, Russell has performed better when has come in before the 13th over, scoring 348 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 171 with six scores of 30 and above. This is against the 129 he has made in ten innings at 152 when he has walked in after the 13th over. Maybe then, there's a case to promote him a spot higher?

Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad have both had a poor campaign so far. It reflects in their standing in the points table as they are right down at the bottom alongside Delhi Capitals. But what the table also suggests is that all is not lost, at least for now. The race at the moment is so tight that even Delhi Capitals are not out of contention for a playoff berth despite beginning the tournament with five straight defeats.

KKR's form has fallen off after making a bright start and SRH on the other hand have been very erratic. However, the side that picks up a win on Thursday will fancy their chances of staging a late comeback to join the rest of the teams in the battle for a playoff spot.

When the teams clashed previously this season, Eden Gardens witnessed a high-scoring game in which Harry Brook finally managed to set the IPL on fire with a blistering century. However, the task for Brook is set to be more challenging this time around. After pairing up Mayank Agarwal and Abhishek Sharma up top again, SRH would be ill advised to make more changes. They have already made way too many alterations at the top that has resulted in instability. But Brook in the middle may have to face a barrage of spin against the KKR spin trio, especially if there is a batting collapse.

SRH do have other batters to tackle that spin trio though. Overall, on balance and on paper, they definitely are the more superior outfit. However, KKR can take solace from the fact that SRH have won only once so far at home. While they lost to Gujarat Titans in their most recent encounter, runs from the bat of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Andre Russell in particular are certainly positive. Russell has grown frustrated in recent times over his batting position and now there is certainly a case for him to get promoted to at least No.5. While the winner of this clash will keep their hopes alive, the loser will become the first side this season to register their seventh loss. Comebacks are not guaranteed beyond that point.

Thank you, Raji, for the thread and tagging me. 🤗 

Best wishes to both the teams and supporting fans.

Team Watch

Sunrisers Hyderabad

After making loads of changes to that top order throughout the season, SRH finally seemed to get things right in their last match against DC. They will likely retain the same group and probably replace Akeal Hosein with Marco Jansen.

Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (C), Harry Brook, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Abdul Samad, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik

Tactics & Matchups: Suyash Sharma and Varun Chakaravarthy have been amongst the wickets for KKR this season but Aiden Markram's record against leg spin in IPL is pretty good. He averages 46.50 at a strike rate over 145 so his presence in the middle overs will be crucial for SRH.

Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR will have a big call to make at the top of the order after Rahmanullah Gurbaz's 81 in the last game. If Jason Roy is fit, he might replace David Wiese as the fourth overseas player.

Probable XI: Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (C), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma

Tactics & Matchups: Andre Russell usually bowls at the death for KKR these days. But there is a case for him to bowl early in the game this time given his superior record against Rahul Tripathi and Mayank Agarwal. He has bowled a combined 43 deliveries to these two and has dismissed them six times in total.

Did you know:

- KKR have bowled 100+ overs of spin which constitutes 60% of their total overs and picked 33 wickets, the most by a team.

- Heinrich Klaasen averages 49 at a strike rate of 170.56 in T20 cricket this year

BATTERS TO WATCH(recent stats)

Rahul Tripathi,  SRH

10 M • 266 Runs • 29.55 Avg • 126.66 SR

Abhishek Sharma,  SRH

8 M • 191 Runs • 23.87 Avg • 145.80 SR

Rinku Singh,  KKR

10 M • 310 Runs • 51.66 Avg • 160.62 SR

Venkatesh Iyer,  KKR

10 M • 296 Runs • 29.60 Avg • 145.81 SR

BOWLERS TO WATCH(recent stats)

Mayank Markande,  SRH

7 M • 10 Wkts • 6.85 Econ • 16.20 SR

Umran Malik,  SRH

9 M • 9 Wkts • 10.06 Econ • 14.77 SR

Varun Chakravarthy,  KKR

10 M • 13 Wkts • 8.46 Econ • 17.38 SR

Suyash Sharma,  KKR

7 M • 9 Wkts • 8.28 Econ • 18.66 SR