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Highlights
Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad, eyeing their first win of the season, would be looking to put up an improved show in their home ground where they lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders, who would also be keen to get back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. (IPL 2016: David Warner’s 50 in Vain as Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers Power Royal Challengers Bangalore to 45-Run Win Over Sunrisers Hyderabad)
Sunrisers suffered a 45-run loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening game with RCB’s Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shane Watson having a blast with the bat against the hapless Hyderabad bowlers. (Indian Premier League: Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler Power Mumbai Indians to Six-Wicket Win over Kolkata Knight Riders)
A victory against KKR, at the Rajiv Gandhi International cricket stadium, will go a long way in bringing Sunrisers’ campaign back on track.
Two-time title winners KKR also lost their last match, having started the tournament with a victory.
SRH could not make it to the final four last year and the task that awaits them is again easier said than done as KKR, champions in 2012 and 2014, are one of the strongest outfits in the tournament.
Though they suffered a reverse against Mumbai Indians, KKR were at its dazzling best against Delhi Daredevils.
Narine’s return a boost for Narine
The Knight Riders will definitely get a boost if they include mystery spinner Sunil Narine in the playing XI, who was rested in the last game after making the long journey back after attending his father’s funeral.
Narine would make a handy combination with the chinaman bowler Brad Hogg.
Even in the absence of Narine, Hogg and Andre Russel restricted Delhi Daredevils to a sub-100 total with their canny bowling.
The Shahrukh Khan-owned outfit has some classy batsmen in its ranks as well, including Robin Uthappa, skipper Gautam Gambhir, Russel and Manish Pandey.
Sunrisers’ strong batting line-up
The Sunrisers too boasts of a strong line-up and potential match winners in captain David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Kane Williamson and Yuvraj Singh.
It remains to be seen whether Yuvraj, who sustained an injury during the recent World T20, would be available for tomorrow’s match.
The form of some of the top-order batsmen, including Dhawan and Williamson, has been a matter of concern and they would look to come out all guns blazing.
Sunrisers has some seasoned and also promising young players, including Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Karn Sharma and new acquisition Mustafizur Rahman, in the bowling department.
Source: NDTV