Former champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad as Nitish Rana-led side won the toss and elected to bowl first in the IPL clash at the Eden Gardens on Friday (April 14).
Nitish Rana didn't make any change in KKR's playing XI while Aiden Markram dropped Washinton Sundar from final XI and brought in Abhishek Sharma.
“We'll bowl first. We've been practicing here and there has been dew. Keeping in mind, we want to chase. Same XI for today,” KKR skipper Nitish Rana said after winning the toss.
“Happy either way. Would have looked to bowl, that is the trend. This is a high scoring wicket, so happy to get runs on the board. Nice to get a win, and today is a fresh start. Hopefully we can do well. One change, Abhishek Sharma comes in for Washi Sundar. I don't think we'll set a target, you need to look at the pitch and then reassess. Whatever we get we'll try our best to defend,” SRH captain Aiden Markram said after the toss.
Follow the KKR vs SRH's live scores here
Head-to-Head
KKR vs SRH
Head to head - total 23 matches
Hyderabad - 8
Kolkata - 15
KKR vs SRH head-to-head record in Kolkata
Matches Played - 8
Matches won by Kolkata Knight Riders - 6
Matches won by Sunrisers Hyderabad - 2
Matches with No Result - 0
Pitch Report
“The weather is a little bit muggy, so the comfort levels of players are going to be tested. In terms of ground dimensions, it is a 75m straight boundary, but the square boundaries are shorter at 64m and 65m. That means a lot of sixes, says Pommie Mbangwa. The pitch has taken me by surprise. Last game against RCB it was all about the spinners so I thought we would see a shaven pitch with a lot of grass but this pitch is hard and it will hold true. Someone like Umran Malik might enjoy this, and the rest of the pacers who could get good bounce on this wicket. But don’t ball short on this wicket, because the side boundaries are really short. I had a piece prepared for the pitch report for spin, but I don’t think this will turn a lot. You can expect a lot of runs, a batter won’t be too worried looking at this wicket,” Nick Knight analysed the pitch.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.
Substitutes: Abdul Samad, Vivrant Sharma, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Dagar, Washington Sundar
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), N Jagadeesan, Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Substitutes: Mandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya
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