It is the second Saturday of the Indian Premier League and that means another double header in the fast paced, electric tournament with the opening match being a clash of champions as the former winners Kolkata Knight Riders host the current champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Both sides have picked up a couple of wins and one defeat from their opening three matches of the tournament so the winners here will be in a good position to launch from while the losers will need to kick start their campaign again.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata have enjoyed two convincing victories in the matches that they have won but sandwiched in between that they were fairly well beaten by Mumbai although with every passing match that is played this season that result doesn’t look so bad. The trend in all of their matches so far is that the chasing side has won.
That seems to be a theme of the tournament so there is nothing bad in that. One thing I have enjoyed from the Knight Riders in the tournament so far has been the disguise in their batting line up. Both Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine have gone up to open the batting with excellent effect so far. All eyes will be on their batting to see what they produce.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
The Sunrisers head into this match off the back of a defeat to the Mumbai Indians but after a sticky batting line up they put up more than a respectable showing with the ball so although they lost the game they got something out of the match which I always think is important in this competition.
Prior to that defeat it had been quite easy for the defending champions with two comfortable wins and everything looked to be going to plan. I’m not convinced we should be writing them off just yet as anyone can come unstuck by the death bowling of that Mumbai side and had the toss been the other way around that result could have been so different.
Team News
Kolkata Knight Riders need to decide whether to persist with Colin de Grandhomme after all he did in the previous match was bowl a couple of no balls or whether to go with Shakib-al-Hasan.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are expected to have Moises Henriques available and he is likely to come in for Ben Cutting who although he has provided a couple of cameos down the order he is yet to take a wicket in the tournament.
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Betting
I’m still not convinced about the Kolkata Knight Riders. I thought the Kings XI Punjab had them where they wanted them but then a head explosion with the bat cost them dearly. I’m not so convinced that the Sunrisers Hyderabad will fall into such a heap here.
One thing we do know is the Sunrisers won’t bowl as badly as what the Kings XI did and indeed their seam artillery should really enjoy the pace and bounce in this wicket. They also have Rashid Khan to cause problems too.
If the Sunrisers are sensible in playing Narine and don’t hole out to rank full tosses I think they have every chance in this match. It is a day match so the dew which hampered Kings XI here the other night won’t come into play and at even money I don’t think we should give up on the champions just yet especially with Henriques expected to return.
Tips
Back Sunrisers Hyderabad to beat Kolkata Knight Riders for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with Betbright
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