IPL 2018: KKR keen to regroup against Sunrisers Hyderabad

Way to go: Knight Riders will need all of captain Dinesh Karthik’s dynamism in their second home match.

Way to go: Knight Riders will need all of captain Dinesh Karthik’s dynamism in their second home match.   | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

With two wins from two matches, Hyderabad lead the table ahead of Chennai Super Kings on net run rate.

Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to regain its winning form in the IPL as the former champion returns home after finishing on the wrong side in a riveting contest against Chennai Super Kings. Dinesh Karthik’s initiation as the captain of KKR was quite impressive as his side sailed past Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in the season opener.

The two-time champion will now have the task of bettering the 2016 champion Sunrisers Hyderabad in the third-round contest at the Eden Gardens on Saturday evening.

Sunrisers have a good balance and come up with two creditable performances, winning both the games. Captain Kane Williamson has been able to infuse confidence into the team which underwent a change of guard after David Warner’s inglorious exit, following a ball-tampering controversy.

The final-ball win against Mumbai Indians on Thursday may not have shown its batting in good light but SRH has a formidable line-up with names like Williamson, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey. 

What will be aiding the visitor will be presence of three former KKR players in its ranks — Yusuf Pathan, Pandey and Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan — who will have a good understanding of the wicket.

Karthik would like to draw inspiration from the positive head-to-head statistic (8-4) against Sunrisers. Knight Riders, who finished third last season, had beaten the same opponent by 17 runs in their last meeting here.

A concern

Bowling has been a concern for the host, especially since it failed to defend a 200-plus score against CSK. Coach Heath Streak hinted at some changes after the team’s loss. 

Mediumpacer R. Vinay Kumar having a bad time has hurt the team which would be considering bringing back Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson who had missed the last match owing to ‘niggles’.

For Knight Kiders, batting has really come good so far with the two Caribbean all-rounders, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, making fair contributions. The team has a strong spin department comprising Narine, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla, but the area where it is faltering is pace. 

“(Andre) Russell is bowling some good pace and (Tom) Curran bowled well in his first game. Mitchell Johnson is there and so are (Kamlesh) Nagarkoti and (Shivam) Mavi. So, we have pace in the kitty,” Karthik said, adding that Vinay Kumar bowled under “some real pressure.”