Follow UsOn Sunday, against the Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders learnt first-hand the experience of a hammering. From the first ball, they were put on the backfoot by some sublime hitting from the Capitals, with only their mystery spinner Sunil Narine getting a reprieve at the Brabourne Stadium.
Their entire batting, which has been heavily reliant on a star or two, suffered a collective collapse, handing a 44-run win to the Capitals. It was a loss that stung the highs of the wins against Mumbai and Punjab Kings, giving the Knights a reality check after their honeymoon start to the 2022 season.
Now, in front them are Sunrisers Hyderabad, a team that has changed their fortunes over their last two fixtures. They hustled past a dejected Chennai Super Kings before rampaging past the in-form Gujarat Titans. The arrival of Marco Jansen has finally made the bowing unit more formidable.
During Sunrisers’ commanding win over the Titans, there were concerns over the fitness of their Indian stars, Rahul Tripathi and Washington Sundar. While the former is expected to take the field, the latter will miss this clash with an injury.
A question over Sunrisers’ conservatism
Having faced 76.5 overs, Sunrisers’ batting numbers in the tournament reads: A run-rate of 8.2, a strike-rate of 136.4 with the least fours and least sixes. A line-up that boasts the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Abhishek Sharma and Nicholas Pooran amongst others, reflecting such numbers is a big worry.
Their clash against the Royals was a rare outing, where batting seemed to be on a minefield, with help for the pacers. However, since then they have approached run-chases with impeccable precision. But going up against the Knight Riders, their conservative approach will be under the scanner, especially of their skipper Kane Williamson.
In 60 deliveries faced during the powerplay, the Kiwi batter averages 23, scores at a strike-rate of 76.7, which happens to be the lowest for any batter in the tournament thus far (min four innings), with a 58.3% of dots. With a plethora of hitters in the setup, is it high time for Williamson to shed the conservative tag?
KKR’s tricky dilemma with Ajinkya Rahane
A top-order that consists of Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana isn’t the most convincing of top orders in the shortest format. And KKR have paid a price for it in both their losses. In the other two games, they have heavily relied on their lower-order, Andre Russell and Pat Cummins to come up with the goods.
While the trio of Venkatesh, Shreyas and Nitish have shown potential through the tournament, it puts Rahane’s place under the scanner. If Williamson’s conservatism is questionable, so is Rahane’s, who strikes just at 92.7. If KKR do not want to go back to Sunil Narine as an opener or pick Aaron Finch in the setup, they could either use Sheldon Jackson at the top, open with Nitish Rana or bring Baba Indrajith into the setup, at the top.
Each of the above option are more than capable of batting at the top of the order and making quick runs. And two out of the three will still keep the left-right combination ticking, something that the franchise has relied on this season.
How big a loss is Washington Sundar?
The dearth of off-spinning all-rounders in the country is a truth. Washington Sundar is one of the prime all-rounders in that department. Thus far in the tournament, the Tamil Nadu off-spinner has already shown great control over his bowling, picking up crucial wickets for the franchise. In four matches this season, the 22-year-old has picked up four wickets, averaging just 27.5.
In the powerplay, Washington’s strike-rate is 12, at an economy rate of just 6. But generally, Sunrisers are one of the rare franchises who have not bowled a lot of spin in the middle-overs. In Washington’s absence, the franchise have the option of going with Shreyas Gopal or Jagadeesha Suchith.For the Sunrisers, the Tamil Nadu off-spinner has proven to be an attacking option more than a defensive one, which is why Gopal might get the nod. In Indian conditions, the leg-spinner averages just 21.4, and can be a big threat on Friday. He will be up against KKR, a side who have the lowest average against wrist spin in the competition.
Team Combination and Predicted Playing XI
Washington Sundar’s injury will force Sunrisers Hyderabad’s hand into picking a spinner for the clash against KKR. It only makes sense for the franchise to replace the off-spinner with Shreyas Gopal, who might be vital against Shreyas Iyer and co.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (Captain), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran(w), Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.
On the other hand, expect no changes for the Knight Riders despite their huge loss against the Delhi Capitals
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Sam Billings(w), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Umesh Yadav, Rasikh Salam, Varun Chakravarthy