Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Two-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will today lock horns with defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Eliminator 1 of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
SRH finished the league season in third position, while KKR completed the top four. Both teams won eight matches, but SRH finished with one additional point courtesy their washed-out match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The winner of today’s match will face Mumbai Indians on 19 May in the second Qualifier, which will decide the second entrant of the final.
SRH have played good cricket through the season. However, it can also be said that they have not performed their best.
The David Warner-led side will miss the experience of Ashish Nehra, who has been ruled out because of the hamstring injury.
The 38-year-old sustained the injury during SRH’s game against Rising Pune Supergiant on May 6 and has failed to recover from the same.
Meanwhile, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh’s participation also seems to be in doubt after he sustained an injury in his fingers against Mumbai Indians and missed the crucial game against Gujarat Lions.
While Nehra has notched up a total of eight wickets in six matches he played for the defending champions this season, Yuvraj amassed 243 runs in 11 IPL games so far.
On the other hand, KKR would hope to find their form which saw them dominate the early stages of competition.
Gautam Gambhir will also miss the services of Chris Woakes, who has flown back to fulfil national duties. There are chances that in-form Nathan Coulter-Nile can replace him, unless Kolkata play an extra spinner and bring in Piyush Chawla. (ANI)