The Kolkata Knight Riders made a sparkling start to their IPL 2016 campaign, before being brought back down to earth by the Mumbai Indians. The Sunrisers Hyderabad had to endure an RCB attack from AB De Villiers and co., which led to David Warner's men suffering a big defeat in Bengaluru. So, when the two teams meet in the IPL in Hyderabad on Saturday, there will be a point or two to prove for both camps, making this match a tough one to call, but an interesting one to view.
Here is a look at how SRH and KKR could play in this IPL 2016 match, in both scenarios – be that batting first or bowling in the first innings.
If SRH bat first: With the pitch still a mystery – it is expected to aid the batsmen, but it might end up being on the slower side too – this is a scenario that could go either way. Having said that, though, chasing did not exactly work out for SRH in their opening match, so maybe setting a big target for KKR is what they need to do.
David Warner, again, gets off to a big start, and this time, Shikhar Dhawan sticks with his opening partner, with the two left-hander's putting on 90-odd for the first wicket at over eight runs an over. With the platform laid, Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha, Deepak Hooda and Eoin Morgan, if he plays, get SRH to 170.
KKR begin their chase well, with Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa putting on a solid partnership, but their run rate hovers around the 7-7.5 mark. That, in turn, increases the required run rate, and when both the openers fall in quick succession, to Mustafizur Rahman, the chase gets even more difficult. However, KKR love to chase for a reason, and Manish Pandey and Andre Russell give the team hope with a splendid partnership, which takes the game to the final over. Needing 14 from the last over, bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, KKR manage only 11, giving SRH a nerve-jangling two-run victory.
If KKR bat first: The last time they did that, they posted 187 on the board against the Mumbai Indians. Gambhir gets his first real failure of IPL 2016, but Uthappa and Pandey keep the scoreboard moving, laying a decent base for the likes of Colin Munro and Russell to go slam-bang. They do that as well, as the SRH bowlers fail to restrict the boundaries, leading to KKR finishing with a score of around 160.
SRH lose both their openers – Warner and Dhawan – early, with Sunil Narine impressing, but Henriques and Ojha steady the ship and give the home team hope of chasing down the score. Needing nearly 12 runs an over in the final five, Deepak Hooda gets out those big-hitting skills out, but SRH fall just short.
