IPL 2017 playoffs Eliminator: SRH (Sunrisers Hyderabad) vs KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) match prediction

The Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kolkata Knight Riders lock horns in an IPL 2017 playoffs Eliminator, which will send the winner into Qualifier 2 against the Mumbai Indians and the loser back home.

With the Rising Pune Supergiant already locking their place in the IPL 2017 final, three teams will now battle it out for the remaining spot.

Starting with the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders Eliminator.

Here is a look at how the SRH vs KKR match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru could pan out.

If SRH bat first:

Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner struggle to cut loose in the Powerplay, with the KKR bowlers, recognising the slow nature of the wicket, bringing their changes of pace into play well.

What Dhawan and Warner do though is not lose their wicket, and thanks to that, they are slowly but surely able to build some momentum into the innings. The last time Warner played KKR, he hit a magnificent century, and the left-hander finds his groove again.

There is to be no hundred this time, but a century partnership between the two openers sets SRH up for a par and above score.

That score becomes a reality when Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, if he plays, and Vijay Shankar smack a few towards the end.

Chasing 168, KKR need a bright start from their two explosive openers Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine. While Narine gets a few boundaries going, Lynn is dismissed early by Mohammed Siraj.

Narine falls in the sixth over, but Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa put on a wonderful partnership to keep KKR within touching distance.

Thanks to that alliance, when Yusuf Pathan, sent in ahead of Manish Pandey, walks in, the equation reads 54 from 30 balls. Yusuf cracks a few sixes, with Rashid Khan going for plenty in this game, and KKR are able to pick up a win in the IPL 2017 Eliminator.

If KKR bat first:

Lynn and Narine begin in a blaze of boundaries to take the score after the Powerplay to 68/0. Narine is dismissed soon after, though, while Lynn hangs around with Gambhir until the tenth over.

When Lynn falls, KKR are looking at a pretty big score, with the run rate near the ten-run mark. However, the batsmen lose their way a little as the SRH bowlers strike back, and while the final over of the innings goes for plenty, KKR only finish on 164, when at one point a score well in excess of 180 looked likely.

In the chase, Dhawan is out in the second over to Colin de Grandhomme, but Warner and Henriques are able to string together a vital partnership.

However, just when SRH look on course, thanks to the 69 runs added between the two Australians, disaster strikes when Kuldeep Yadav dismisses Warner and Sunil Narine takes the wicket of Henriques.

With the two set batsmen gone, the Sunrisers Hyderabad struggle to keep up with the required run rate, and before they know it, the match is gone and KKR are in Qualifier 2.

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