Internet Desk: Keen contest is on cards as defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad take on two time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 10 Eliminator at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
The winner of tomorrow’s match will face the loser of Qualifier 1 between Mumbai Indians and Rising Supergiant Pune on May 19 in the second Qualifier, which will decide the second entrant of the final.
Gautam Gambhir’s side will look for redemption, having lost the last four out of seven matches in the latter half of the season. A lot will depend on the form of Chris Lynn, who has the ability to win a game on his own.
Lynn had scored a quick-fire fifty off just 21 balls, which was laced with five fours and four sixes, on his return at Chinnaswamy last month, after recovering from a shoulder injury that kept him out for most of the season. The Australian started the season on a brilliant note, scoring a brilliant 93* against Gujarat Lions.
The biggest concern for the two time champions will be the consistency of the openers. Trinidadian Sunil Narine didn’t look to be consistent at all, which might force the team management to start the innings with captain Gambhir and Lynn.
KKR will look forward to the form of local boys Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa who have been in tremendous form scoring 396 runs and 386 runs respectively.
Skipper Gambhir too was in red-hot form early in the season but seemed a tad off-colour in the business end and the skipper, who is placed in the third spot in the most runs list with 454 runs, will hope to led from the front.
As far as their bowling is concerned, Chris Woakes (17 wickets) and Umesh Yadav (14 wickets) have been on song, and they have their task cut out to stop David Warner and his men to keep themselves in the hunt.
Defending champions Sunrisers, on the other hand, won eight games while lost five in their 14 league games to end the league stage at third position with 17 points.
The team cemented their play-offs berth on the back of a superb eight-wicket win over Gujarat Lions in their last league match.
Led by an inspirational David Warner, Sunrisers would hope to see him come good in the Elminator tomorrow. The dashing Aussie opener has registered 600 -plus runs in back-to-back seasons.
He was the league’s second-highest run-scorer during the franchise’s maiden triumph last year. The Australian has shown great leadership qualities to keep his side on course for a second successive IPL triumph.
The Knight Rider’s bowling will have their task cut out on a batting friendly strip at Chinnaswamy. Unless KKR get Warner out early, they will struggle to contain Hyderabad tomorrow.
They Knights would also struggle if left- handed Shikhar Dhawan gets going. Dhawan has scored a sensational 468 runs so far this season, which forced selectors to pick him for the upcoming Champions Trophy.
Hyderabad would also like Yuvraj Singh, who started the season with a bang hammering 70 not out in the tournament opener against Bangalore, to get runs. He has aggregated only 243 runs from 11 matches with a couple of half-centuries.
In bowling department, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been in the form of his life with 25 wickets in 13 games and boasts of a four-wicket lead over Jaydev Unadkat, who is second in the list of top wicket-takers this season.
It will be a huge match for Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan, who has 17 wickets in 13 matches in his debut IPL season in .