MATCH DETAILS:
Match 35 IPL 2020 will be played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.
The match will be telecasted live from 3:30 PM IST onwards.
PREVIEW FOR DREAM11 FANTASY:
The Kolkata Knight Riders are in free-fall after a promising start to their IPL campaign, having recorded two consecutive losses heading into this fixture. As Eoin Morgan and co fell well short of the Mumbai Indians due to Quinton de Kock’s blitzkrieg on Friday, a change in captaincy didn’t help.
From eight games so far, the former IPL champions have eight points and will be looking to get back into winning ways as soon as possible. They will need the likes of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana to fire on all cylinders in order for that to happen, not to mention Andre Russell, who is yet to get going in the 2020 IPL.
After losing their previous two fixtures in the tournament, Andre Russell and KKR are in for a very stern test against the Sunrisers, who are also looking to return to winning ways. Despite Jonny Bairstow and Rashid Khan’s heroics in IPL 2020, Bhuvneshwar Kumar ‘s services were dearly missed by the Sunrisers.
Natarajan, however, has to some degree alleviated the questions of death bowling. The onus is on Captain David Warner, who has so far looked out of step, despite having scored 284 runs in IPL 2020. The Orange Army is hoping that the Southpaw will do well against KKR, particularly with their hopes of a line-up playoff.
Shubman Gill star with the bat saw the previous IPL 2020 game between the two sides as KKR beat SRH by seven wickets. Since then, however, both teams have had a few staff changes and look fairly balanced this time around on paper.
We should be in for a cracking start to a double-header Sunday in the IPL, with both teams looking to improve their chances of a top-four finish.
WEATHER REPORT:
There is no chance of rain interruption from here, temperature is going to be 31 degrees and due to the humidity, the players are going to face a lot of trouble because the wind here is going 10 km.
PITCH REPORT:
The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium is a two-pace touch, as seen in the previous game between KKR and MI, with the bowlers enjoying the conditions out in the centre.
Although the spinners have extracted some turn off the floor, at this venue in IPL 2020, the bowlers have used variations in pace very effectively. For run-scoring against the brand new ball, the powerplay process is comparatively simpler, although a lot of swing is on offer for the pacers.
On winning the toss, both teams will look to bat first, given the Abu Dhabi heat in this afternoon fixture. With the pitch also expected to slow down a bit, in this fixture, 160 should be par at this venue.
INJURY AND AVAILABILITY NEWS:
There are no availability and injury issues regarding players from both sides.
PROBABLE PLAYING XIs OF SUNRISERS HYDERABAD:
David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow (WK), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma/Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rashid Khan, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma and Khaleel Ahmed.
PROBABLE PLAYING XIs OF KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS:
Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Eoin Morgan (C), Andre Russell, Chris Green/Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi/Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna and Varun Chakravarthy.
CAPTAIN AND VICE CAPTAIN OPTIONS:
1. Captain Options– David Warner.
2. Vice Captain Options– Nitish Rana and Rashid Khan.
DREAM11 TEAM FOR SUNRISERS HYDERABAD VS KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS:
1. Wicket Keeper– Jonny Bairstow and Dinesh Karthik.
2. Batsmen– David Warner, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana and Priyam Garg.
3. All-Rounders– Andre Russell.
4. Bowlers– Rashid Khan, Pat Cummins, Khaleel Ahmed and Varun Chakravarthy.
*Disclaimer: A team here is picked based on the perception, analysis, and gut feeling of the author. When you select your team, analyze the points mentioned to arrive at your own decision.*
