Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2017 playoffs turned out to be a little one-sided, so let's hope the Eliminator throws up a lot more excitement on Wednesday. The two teams battling it out for a place in Qualifier 2 against the Mumbai Indians are the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kolkata Knight Riders, two sides who know a thing or two about winning the Indian Premier League title.
There is very little to choose between these two sides going into the Eliminator at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. They split their two matches in the league phase, with both winning their respective home games.
While KKR have a much better overall head-to-head record over SRH, the Sunrisers Hyderabad beat the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator in IPL 2016.
That win should give SRH a lot more confidence, although the Sunrisers Hyderabad will also know KKR are a different beast this season.
They might have lost four of their last five matches in the league, but when KKR have been on-song, it's been a song perfectly in sync.
With Chris Lynn taking off at the top with Sunil Narine, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey adding class in the middle and Yusuf Pathan and Colin de Grandhomme the power, KKR have the batting to trouble any bowling lineup in the IPL.
The bowling, even without Chris Woakes, looks pretty good, with the likes of Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav and Trent Boult all set to make full use of a tricky pitch at the Chinnaswamy.
To stop KKR from firing on all cylinders, the Sunrisers Hyderabad need to take the attack to them, much like they did the last time these two teams met, with David Warner scoring a ridiculous century.
You cannot beat KKR by being circumspect. You need to go at full throttle and make sure you do not allow the Kolkata Knight Riders to dictate proceedings.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad certainly have the personnel to do that, but with a few injury worries, it remains to be seen if they will be able to get their strongest team out.
You feel Warner and Shikhar Dhawan – batting first or chasing – will be the key. KKR will know that, of course, and they will do everything they can to stop the SRH openers from running away with the game.
Where to Watch Live
SRH vs KKR is scheduled for an 8pm IST, 6.30pm GST, 3.30pm BST, 10.30am ET start. TV and live streaming information for the Eliminator is below.
India: TV: Sony Six, Sony Six HD (English), Sony Max (Hindi), Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD (Tamil, Telugu, Bengali). Live Streaming: Hotstar.
Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket HD. Live Streaming: OSN Play.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 1. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
South Africa: TV: SuperSport Two. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
International: Live Streaming: Cricketgateway.
