The resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as Kane Williamson-led side won the toss and opted to bowl first in their IPL match on Friday.
"We are gonna have a bowl first. It has been a good wicket but the dew factor has been a reason. Team is improving and growing as a unit. KKR is a strong side. Sundar ain't playing today but good oppurtunity for Suchith," SRH skipper Kane Williamson said before the match.
"I am happy batting first. Finch comes in and Aman Khan comes in. Sheldon Jackson is in as well. There are a few injuries in the camp. We had a good break in between," KKR captain Shreyas Iyer said.
After a subdued start to the tournament, SRH turned things around with back-to-back wins over Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, and Kane Williamson's team is now eying a hat-trick of victories.
KKR are heading into the match after a loss against Delhi Capitals but it remains a formidable side and would look to bounce back from the reversal. The Knight Riders are placed in the second spot with six points from five outings.
Pitch report
"Looks like a magnificent surface. Lovely grass coverage on it, all that does is just give it a really nice pace. Good sound to it - nice and hard. Good pace, good bounce. Batters have made the most of scoring runs in the early stages here. It's harder to score in the death overs. Dimensions - 68 metres on one side away to point - not a very big hit down there at all and over third man it is very small. But 81 metres to the leg-side and a huge hit out to cow corner (89 metres). Bat first, put runs on the board and if you get 185-190, you'll be okay. It's a really good surface. Don't worry about batting first," Simon Doull analyses the pitch.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's Playing XI:
Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson(c), Rahul Tripathi, Nicholas Pooran(w), Aiden Markram, Shashank Singh, Jagadeesha Suchith, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.
Kolkata Knight Riders' Playing XI:
Aaron Finch, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sheldon Jackson(w), Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Aman Hakim Khan, Varun Chakaravarthy.
