Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 61st Match Preview and prediction

Preview  By Prakhar 

The Kolkata Cavaliers were on the verge of losing five games in a row when they met Sunrisers Hyderabad about a month ago. Shreyas Iyer felt "exhausted" after the match and attributed his defeat to a "bad day." He knew little about the many bad days. That ruined his team's strong start to the season.

This time it was SRH in the same situation. If KKR loses five times in a row on Saturday (May 14th), it will be a small return. However, there are many things that depend on the results of this game.

Given the low score of 10 points and the negative net run rate, it seems very unlikely that either team will be in the playoffs. On the other hand, Delhi Capital with an NRR of +0.210 seems to be much better.

But for KKR and SRH, winning doesn't hurt the rest of the campaign. KKR, in particular, sees this as a good chance to win a big win over Mumbai Indians in the last game, but if Pat Cummins doesn't go home due to a small hip problem, their job will be cancelled. Brendon McCallum may have accepted the offer of an English coach during the KKR campaign. So the training camp already has a sense of change and the team's reaction to the news is fascinating. See if SRH can turn the season around.

When: KKR vs SRH, Match 61, IPL 2022 at 7:30pm local

Where: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

What to expect: A tricky call when throwing. In nine of Pune's 12 games, the first team to hit won, but the team was still reluctant to defend the tart. The venue is also a happy hunting ground for KKR, who won 7 out of 8 games here. In contrast, SRH has won only once in five games here.

Head to Head: KKR 14 - 8 SRH

Team Watch:


Kolkata Knight Riders

The Shreyas Iyer team made frequent mistakes this season and they were only able to play the final 11 in the final round. Interestingly, it's a reversion to Plan A, which they tried and abandoned earlier this season. The absence of Cummins, however, restrains another wrench, but KKR's life will be easier if Umesh Yadaf recovers from the calf tension he missed in the previous game. It will also allow Sam Billings to become the fourth overseas player and get gloves.

Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Jackson/Sam Billings(w), Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy

Tactics & Matchups: Rahul Tripathi hit 71 in 37 innings and has all the answers his previous team threw at him. Therefore, expect KKR to come up with a new set of plans this time around. That could include throwing more at him for Andre Russell. Andre Russell faced only three deliveries in a previous encounter before losing his wicket for the fourth time. Russell can also play against Nicholas Pulan. Nicholas Pulan is another middle-level batter in the last four outings.

SunRisers Hyderabad

There is no doubt that the absence of Washington's Sundal and Natalyan injuries, as well as Kane Williamson's form or lack thereof, affected the team's fate. However, both bowlers are expected to be suitable for KKR games and will be a great boost to the team.

Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson(c), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran(w), Shashank Singh, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Umran Malik

Tactics & Matchups:  KKR spinners are more economical than any team this season, with Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy and others likely to win SRH early in the game. In fact, SRH needs to reach the lowest number of boundaries in PowerPlay and get out of the way faster. In that sense, their opening round, Abyssek Sharma and Williamson, will do a lot for them.

Did you know?

ShreyasIyer vs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 44 points, 49 balls, 3 outs, average: 14.67, strike rate: 89.79

Umran Malik has bowling numbers 4-0-48-0, 4-0-52-0, 2-0-25-0 since the 5 wickets.

What they said:

"It was a big challenge for us. We need to understand how to change that pressure and turn things around. We get good results and consistently achieve quality. But overall, there is an area that can be reached. In previous games, when the new ball helped, of course we were a threat, so how to get back to the drawing board and become more creative and change momentum. You have to come up with it. " - Kane Williamson

"I'm not (completely) happy with this victory (against MI), but I want to keep it." - Shreyas Iyer