In a clash between the two eliminated teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss against Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat first in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on May 25.
What did the captains say after the toss?
After winning the toss, SRH captain Pat Cummins said:
"Will bat first, looks like a good wicket. We've just clicked, the bowlers have been sharp and the batters have played to potential. Always hope to find momentum early, the good thing is we know we can keep this squad going forward. We have played well last 3-4 games, will try to find that consistency. Same team as the last game."
Meanwhile, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane, after losing the toss, said:
"Was looking to bowl first either way. The teams that chased in the last two games won at this venue. Playing after 18 days feels like a challenge, but just trying to focus in the practice session. We know everyone is going home after this game, so we are just trying to play to win and play to entertain. We had our moments this season, it is all about accepting the mistakes and learning from the good things. It is about playing for the fans, playing for pride. Agkrish has been fantastic, he is an opening batter but he has adapted to playing at 4 or 5. I hope he builds from this and gets to represent India as well. No changes, we are playing after 18 days so not really sure about the team."
SRH's Playing XI
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Mohammad Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh.
KKR's Playing XI
Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Subs: Anukul Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia
Pitch Report
"We are in the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, for the final time this season but the pitch that is going to be used here this evening is a fresh one. It hasn't been used so far this season. Let's have a look at the dimensions because there is a bias - 67m and 60m square boundaries, straight down is 73m. Irrespective of the pitches, this venue has been a high-scoring one. This is wicket no. 6, nothing played here yet but I think the story is going to be pretty much similar. If you look at the wicket, lot of dry grass, it's been rolled really well, there's a nice sheen coming from the lights, but I think it's bad news fast bowlers, good news spinners because in the middle, the spinners can control the game really well. KKR are going to be really happy looking at this wicket. It's got cracks, but the cracks are not opening up anytime soon, that's for sure. The sheen would mean that it's coming on to the bat nicely but the only issue is bounce, it generally stays a little low here at this venue. That makes the fast bowlers target the stumps. You target the stumps, get lbw and bowled in play and you can be amongst the wickets. But if you're wide on these small boundaries, you're gonna go for plenty. This is a really good pitch to bat on, be careful it might stay a little low, that's about it. Lot of credit to Ankit (curator) and his team of groundsmen here. It's been raining quite heavily, last couple of days, they've managed to prepare a really good pitch, especially if you're a batter," Deep Dasgupta and Varun Aaron analysed the pitch
Head-to-Head
SRH and KKR have locked horns with each other 29 times in IPL so far. SRH have clinched nine wins while KKR have emerged victorious in 20 matches out of the 29 encounters played between the two teams.