Day 8 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will feature a clash of two heavyweights as Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Kolkata Knight Riders.
Both the teams are coming off of losses in their first match. They will like to get things back on track by putting a statement and getting their respective points table kicking.
Both the teams are equally balanced with star-power and youth. Hence, it will be an interesting match to go with your weekend!
Sunrisers Hyderabad
SRH is coming off a disappointing loss against RCB in their first match. The match selection itself raised some eyebrows as newcomer Natarajan was selected over IPL tested performers like Siddharth Kaul, Basil Thampi, and Khaleel Ahmed. That move didn’t pay off as they couldn’t get early wickets.
While chasing, they started brilliantly. Johnny Bairstow picked up from where he left off in the England series as he scored a smashing 61 of 43 balls. Manish Pandey looked in good touch as well. The middle-order, however, failed to keep the innings together. Abhishek Sharma and Priyam Garg both being extremely young, responsibility was on Vijay Shankar but he failed as well.
Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR is coming off an embarrassing defeat against Mumbai Indians. Both bowling and batting didn’t seem to work for the Bengal Tigers. The pace bowling looked rusty, the only one to bowl tight was the young Shivam Mavi. Spinners did well, however, batsmen were able to play them off and attack the pace bowlers.
The batting had a similar fate. Sunil Narine opening the batting didn’t work. Many believe the KKR made a tactical error in having Andre Russell come to bat late. Dinesh Karthik looked really good at number 3. Pat Cummins launched some fireworks with the bat, however, they will be concerned about his bowling form.
Fantasy XI League
ANDRE RUSSELL (10.5) – If promoted, he’ll be even more dangerous. Also, he’s a very handy bowler.
SHUBMAN GILL (8.5) – The explosive opener will make a place in our team.
SUNIL NARINE (10) (C) – Narine’s bowling will be lethal in UAE, also if he opens and scores few runs which he usually does, it’ll be a double bingo.
SHIVAM MAVI (8.0) – Mavi bowled really good and got important wickets of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock.
JOHNNY BAIRSTOW (9.5) – Baistow is coming off an aggressive hundred against Australia and a fifty in the first match. He has been in great touch throughout the entire season as well.
DAVID WARNER (10.5) (C) – Warner has been in really good form and he’s an impact player who can change the course of the game. He’ll be our captain.
RASHID KHAN (9.5) – Rashid Khan will be extremely dangerous on UAE pitches. On top of that, he can bat and field as well.
BHUVANESHWAR KUMAR (9) – Bhuvaneshwar Kumar can pick up wickets both in powerplay and death overs. He will lead the Sunrisers bowling lineup.
JASON HOLDER (8.5) – Holder might make it into the side after the injury of Mitchell Marsh.
ABHISHEK SHARMA (8.0) – Sharma bowled well in the first game and is a dynamic name in the U19 circuit. He hit some big shots in the last season as well.
PRIYAM GARG (8.0) – Another notable name from the U19 circuit. SRH management likes the idea of promoting him at no. 4.
PREDICTION
SRH have a stacked top order, however, their middle-order fails to put the innings together. KKR, on the other hand, have ample resources in every department, it’s just a matter of putting it together for them.
They will rectify the mistakes they did and will bounce back. KKR will, therefore, defeat SRH.
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