Kolkata in search of third consecutive win, Hyderabad strengthened by return of Markram-Yansen

High on spirits after Aligarh's Rikun Singh hit five sixes in the last over to win the last match, Kolkata Knight Riders will look for their third consecutive win against Sunrisers Hyderabad today. After the defeat against Punjab in the first match played in Mohali, KKR got the new heroes to win in two consecutive matches.

Shardul Thakur against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) firstShowed up with the bat, scored 68 runs off 29 balls to give KKR their first win of the season by 81 runs and then followed it up with a 31 in the last over against Gujarat Titans, including five sixes from Rinku, to give Gujarat a 3-0 win in their bastion Ahmedabad. Defeated by the wicket.

Shreyas injured, Nitish not in form

Nitish and Aiden Markram with Rinku Singh Photo: IPL/BCCI

The two-time former champions were dealt an early blow when regular captain Shreyas Iyer was ruled out for the entire season. A great feature of the last two victories is that both the victories have been achieved without the significant contribution of aggressive batsman Andre Russell and captain Nitish Rana. 

Waiting for Russell to shine.

Shardul and Rinku have certainly given Kolkata two finisher options, but the team has to prove that the last two wins were no fluke. Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell failed to live up to his reputation.

In the first match against Punjab, Russell scored 35 off 19 balls, but managed zero and one runs in the next two matches respectively. He will be eager to do better against Sunrisers Hyderabad as he sweated it out in practice at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.  

In the first three matches, KKR have tried three combinations as an opening pair. On Friday, it could happen that Jason Roy of England is brought in place of Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan. Gurbaj had scored a good half-century against RCB. Jason Roy has been brought in for Shakib Al Hasan. Narayan Jagadishan can play the role of wicketkeeper. 

Big responsibility on Hyderabad batsmen

On the other hand, Aiden Markram-led Sunrisers Hyderabad, who looked strong on paper, have not been able to impress in the first two matches. Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen are present in the team. Rahul Tripathi scored an unbeaten 74 off 48 balls to give the team their first win of the season against Punjab.

With this win, the team coached by West Indies legend Brian Lara would have achieved a winning streak and could give Kolkata a tough fight at home. Tripathi can play a key role in the middle of the innings against his old team. He can change strike consistently and can also play big shots against spin.

Hyderabad will be hoping that Brook and Henry perform well and the team can score big. Harry Brook has been taken by the team for Rs 13.25 crore. So far he has been able to play only innings of 13, 03 and 13 runs respectively. He was part of the team that won the T20 World Cup last year.

It is possible that the team will also change their batting order. They also have a good spin attack in the form of Washington Sundar and Mayank Markandeya. In the pace attack, Hyderabad have the experienced Bhuvneshwar and Marco Janssen. A win can also propel KKR to the top of the points table. 

Possible playing-11 of both the teams

Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, N Jagadishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakraborty.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mayank Agarwal, Harry Brook, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (captain), Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Mayank Markande, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.