Pitch Report:
The Eden Gardens pitch is known for its support for both batters and bowlers. Initially, there will be seam and swing available for the bowlers, but as the game progresses, the pitch is expected to support the batters more, while spinners are also likely to get some turn. However, since it's the first match of the season, there may not be much support for the spinners.
KKR vs SRH Probable Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Chetan Sakariya, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Mayank Agarwal, Travis Head, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Washington Sundar, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Mayank Markande
KKR Key Players
- Rinku Singh - The middle order batter is one of the most impressive finishers in Indian cricket at the moment. He will take on the opposition bowlers with a strike-rate of 148.10 from 99 T20 innings.
- Nitish Rana - The left-handed middle-order batter is a consistent part of KKR’s middle order with at least two half-centuries in each of the last five IPL tournaments and one in all eight of his IPL campaigns.
- Mitchell Starc - The Australian left-arm pacer makes his first IPL appearance since 2015 and will bring his usual mix of extreme pace and some unplayable deliveries.
- Varun Chakravarhty - The spinner has been a very consistent performer for KKR over the last four years with 61 wickets including 20 in the last IPL.
SRH Key Players
- Heinrich Klaasen - The South African hit a top score of 104 in last year’s IPL and will arrive at Eden Gardens with a T20 strike-rate of over 150.
- Travis Head - The left-handed Australian has been in brilliant form in international cricket over the last 12 months and he will look to attack from the first ball of his innings.
- Pat Cummins - The Australia skipper is a brilliant bowler but can also score valuable runs down the order. However, this will be his first time as captain in top tier T20 cricket and he is against his old side.
- Umran Malik - The 24 year old right-arm fast bowler has taken 65 T20 wickets and he will generate pace on this pitch even if no other bowler can.
KKR vs SRH Dream11 Prediction
Scenario 1
Sunrisers Hyderabad win the toss and bowl
First Innings Score - 160-165
Sunrisers Hyderabad win the match
Scenario 2
Kolkata Knight Riders win the toss and bowl
Power Play score - 60-70
First Innings Score - 190-200
Sunrisers Hyderabad win the match