What a thriller yesterday’s match was! One of those low-scoring nail-biters we’ve missed for so long. The scoreboard might not fully show it, but DC were under real pressure before Sameer Rizvi stepped in and turned the game around for them. With that match done, all teams have now played their first game of the season, and it’s time for Match 5—KKR vs SRH. Both teams lost their opening matches and will be eager to get their first points on the board. So, let’s take a look at everything you need to know for today’s clash.
Expected Playing 11:
KKR:
- Finn Allen (WK)
- Ajinkhya Rahane (C)
- Angkrish Raghuvanshi
- Cameron Green
- Rinku Singh
- Anukul Roy
- Ramandeep Singh
- Sunil Narine
- Vaibhav Arora
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Blessing Muzarabani
Impact Player- Kartik Tyagi
SRH:
- Ishan Kishan (C & WK)
- Abhishek Sharma
- Travis Head
- Henrich Klassen
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Liam Livingstone
- Salil Arora
- Aniket Verma
- Harsh Dubey
- David Payne
- Harshal Patel
Impact Player- Jaydev Unadkat
Head to Head:
| Matches- | 30 |
| KKR Won- | 20 |
| SRH Won- | 10 |
| No Result- | 0 |
Pitch and Weather Condtions:
The match will be played on the same pitch as the New Zealand-South Africa World Cup semi-final last month. This is a traditionally high-scoring surface, which SRH head coach Daniel Vettori described as being grassier than usual. He also expects the surface will “hold” more than necessarily “turn”. The temperature is likely to hover around the late 20s to early 30s range on the Celcius scale.
ESPN CricInfo:
Henrich Klassen VS KKR Spinners:
Heinrich Klaasen has a very strong record against KKR’s spinners, who are the backbone of their bowling—Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Both bowlers have excellent records at Eden Gardens. Narine is the leading wicket-taker at this venue, while Varun is fourth on the list with 34 wickets in 24 matches. This makes the contest even more interesting.
Against Narine, Klaasen has scored 85 runs off 52 balls at a strike rate of 163. While that might not look extraordinary at first, very few batters have such a record against Narine—and importantly, Klaasen has never been dismissed by him.
Against Varun Chakravarthy, Klaasen has been even more aggressive. Despite being dismissed three times in nine innings, he has scored 112 runs off just 53 balls, striking at an incredible 211.
This battle between Klaasen and KKR’s spin duo is definitely one to watch.
Prediction:
We’re backing KKR to get over the line in this game. Even though both teams’ bowling attacks look a bit weak, you simply can’t ignore the advantage of KKR’s spin duo—Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. You can’t judge them based on just one game. Varun, currently the top-ranked ICC bowler, is in great form, and Narine is always a threat, especially at Eden Gardens where both have an excellent record.
Both teams have strong batting lineups, no doubt. SRH’s batting is world-class, but if there’s been one issue for them over the past couple of years, it’s their bowling. Their batting can win matches on its day, but it can’t do it every time. That said, if their top order gets going, they can easily take the game away.
One thing is certain—expect plenty of sixes and some balls flying into orbit. Let’s see who walks away with the two points!
If you want to watch KKR take on SRH at Eden Gardens, then switch on your devices and tune into JioHotstar at 7:30 PM IST.
Until next time!
Thank you.
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