IPL 2018: KKR face SRH in a must win game
KKR might be placed third in the IPL table but they cannot take tonight's fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad lightly as it is almost a must-win game for them to secure their play-off spot. KKR have 14 points but a low run rate puts them in risk of losing their play-off spot to the chasing pack. So who holds the edge tonight?
History favors Kolkata Knight Riders
The two sides have met on 13 occasions in IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad winning just 5 as compared to 8 victories clinched by Kolkata Knight Riders. At the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad, the two sides have locked horns 4 times with both sides winning two games each. However, SRH have been in a different dimension this season, winning 5 home games till now.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Probable Playing XI
Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales, Kane Williamson (captain), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreevats Goswami (wicket-keeper), Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Probable Playing XI
Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper and captain), Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Javon Searles, Piyush Chawla, Shivam Mavi and Kuldeep Yadav.
Best bowling side against one of the best batting sides
Sunrisers Hyderabad have been the best bowling side this season, conceding runs at 7.86 an over. On the other hand, KKR have been the second worst bowling side after Delhi Daredevils, conceding 9.26 runs per over. Notably, Sunrisers have hit the fewest sixes in the IPL with 62 under their belt, whereas, KKR have hit second most sixes this season (107).
Personal scores to settle
Shikhar Dhawan averages just 24.16 against Kolkata Knight Riders. This is his lowest average against any opposition in the IPL. In 19 innings, Dhawan has managed 459 runs. Rashid Khan might be SRH's best bowler but Robin Uthappa doesn't fear him. Robin has faced 19 balls off Rashid while scoring 39 runs at a strike rate of 205.26 without being dismissed.
