SRH pin hopes on strong batting in return clash
A keen contest is on the cards when the rampaging Kolkata Knight Riders clash with defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad. Leading the points table with 14 points from nine matches (with just two losses), KKR have been in sublime form in the ongoing edition of IPL.
Sunrisers, on the other hand, are currently on the third spot with 11 points from nine matches. The fact that some of the records in the ongoing IPL are held by KKR players reflect the red-hot form of the team. KKR captain Gautam Gambhir holds the Orange Cap in batting, Sunil Narine, who is now a dependable opener for KKR, is at the top in the race for ‘Most Valuable Player’ and Robin Uthappa has hit the ‘Most Sixes’.
KKR handed a crushing defeat on Delhi Daredevils yesterday by
winning the
match by seven wickets with 22 balls to spare. Displaying some exemplary team work, KKR’S Nathan Coulter-nile scalped three wickets to break the back o Delhi while Gambhir and Uthappa followed it up in the run chase by slamming half-centu ries to seal the match in their favour.
AVENGING DEFEAT
KKR would look to continue their winning streak tomorrow at the Rajiv Gandhi International sta dium, but Sunrisers would like to avenge their defeat in their previous meeting in Kolkata on April 15. SRH batsmen had failed to click in their chase o 173-run target in that match. They could only score 155 runs in 20 overs to lose the match by 17 runs.
However, SRH have shown much improvement since then with captain David Warner, opener Shikhar Dhawan and the experienced Kane Williamson having been in destructive form. Warner’s 51 Dhawan’s 77 in 48 balls and 54 no out by Williamson powered SRH to 207/3 in their match agains Kings XI Punjab last night a Mohali. SRH eventually won the match by 26 runs.