Kolkata Knight Riders will take on the Sunrises Hyderabad in their next encounter at the MCA Stadium in Pune. After a good start to the season, KKR faded off in the middle of the tournament and their campaign looked in all sorts of trouble. However, they managed to get their combination right in the last game finally, and are likely to stick with this playing XI for the last two games unless Umesh returns. However, their pace bowler Pat Cummins has been ruled out and returned home as well.
On the other hand, the Sunrises Hyderabad have lost all their last four games and are desperate for a win in the upcoming fixture. The injuries to T Natarajan and Washington Sunder haven’t helped their cause, and they will be looking to get back to winning ways soon with the playoff stages approaching. With five wins in 11 games, SRH are at the seventh position in the points table, and they will need to improve their net run rate as well.
Match Details
Venue: MCA Stadium, Pune
Date & Time: May 14, 7:30 PM
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network for Television and Disney + Hot star app for livestreaming.
Pitch Report
The last game at the MCA Stadium in Pune was a low-scoring encounter between Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, and the bowlers have had a lot of assistance from the wicket as well. Any score above 150 is going to be difficult to chase down, however, the skipper that wins the toss is likely to stick with chasing.
A series of losses after a five-match winning streak has dropped SRH to the sixth spot with 10 points, and they would need to win all the remaining three games to salvage any hopes of making it to the play-offs.
With 10 points, KKR, however, are on the brink of elimination.
Shreyas Iyer's men have just two more matches to go and wins in both will only take them to 14 points, which might not be enough with Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore already sitting pretty in the top four with 14 points from 12 games.
One of the main reasons behind SRH's awful run in the last few games is injuries to frontline bowlers -- Washington Sunder and T Natarajan -- and the sudden loss of form of speedster Malik.
It culminated in SRH conceding more than 190 plus runs in each of the last four games.
While Sunder had injured his bowling hand again, death over specialist Natarajan had picked up a giggly. But coach Tom Moody was hopeful of the duo's return against KKR.
Fazalhaq Farooq and Tai were taken to the cleaners by RCB in their last game, further adding to SRH's problems.
In batting, SRH have the quality but skipper
Kane Williamson
Will have to take more responsibility as he has just one fifty to show this season. Although Abhishek Sharma has given them solid starts, the youngster has not been able to anchor the innings.
Rahul Tripathi, Nicholas Poo ran and Aiden Markham to have been among runs, but SRH batters will need assistance from their bowlers, who will have to ensure that they limit their opposition to reasonable totals.
KKR, on the other hand, are paying the price for making constant changes to their playing XI and now staring at elimination after losing seven of their 12 games.
KKR, however, are coming into the match after beating Mumbai Indians in their last game, and they would look to end things on a high.
The 2021 finalist have struggled in the power play this season but with Venkatesh Iyar, who was dropped due to his lean run, back in the mix, KKR produced a good effort against MI.
The seasoned Tim Southey and Pat Cummins too were back in the XI and produced a solid effort, sharing four wickets against MI.
But according to reports, Cummins will miss KKR's remaining matches as he is heading home early to recover from a minor hip injury.
KKR's highest wicket-taker Umesh had missed the last game after pulling his calf muscle, and the team would be hoping he recovers for the match.
With their campaign nearing its end, KKR will hope to make the most of the remaining two games as they look forward to the next season.
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