KOLKATA: Some knocks find place in cricket record books while others reside in people’s heart. Rinku Singh‘s last-over heroics against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad perhaps will feature in both categories in the years to come.
The middle-order batter’s five sixes in as many balls have not already become the talk of this IPL but it has also injected an air of confidence in the
Kolkata Knight Riders camp.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will have to tick all the boxes in order to get maximum points against an upbeat
KKR at the Eden Gardens here on Friday.
IPL 2023 SCHEDULE | IPL 2023 POINTS TABLEKKR coach Chandrakanth Pandit must be happy to see a new hero emerging from his playing XI every day. While Shardul Thakur and Suyash Sharma turned the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, it was Rinku and Venkatesh Iyer who took the side home against GT in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
For a change, no one is complaining that Andre Russell has failed to fire so far as for the time being, the much talked about KKR’s over dependence on the West Indian all-rounder seems to have taken a backseat.
The Knights will relish their chances at home where their spinners – Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Sharma – are expected to get some assistance.
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IPL 2023: High-flying KKR face SRH at Eden Gardens
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<p>On a high after Rinku Singh’s phenomenal knock, Kolkata Knight Riders will be gunning for a hat-trick of victories when they face a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday.<br /></p>
<p>Having started off their campaign with a reversal against Punjab Kings at Mohali, KKR found two unlikely heroes in two matches to get their campaign up and running.<br /></p>
<p>First, it was Shardul Thakur’s storm with the bat that took a star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore by surprise as the pace bowling allrounder’s 29-ball 68 led KKR to their first win of the season, a dominant 81-run victory.<br /></p>
<p>Then the low-profile Rinku has become the flavour of the season after pulling off the greatest heist in T20 history by scoring 31 runs in the last over to win a match. KKR defeated the reigning champions Gujarat Titans by three wickets courtesy Rinku’s astonishing power-hitting.<br /></p>
<p>The two-time former champions, who were hit hard by the absence of their skipper Shreyas Iyer and star allrounder Shakib-Al-Hasan and were written off by many following a low-key auction, suddenly have become the side to beat this season.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>While Shardul and Rinku have undoubtedly provided the finishing options, KKR think-tank would be keen to prove that these two wins were not a fluke.<br /></p>
<p>By his standard, Andre Russell, the fearsome Jamaican power-hitter, has looked a shadow of his past, barring a 19-ball 35 in their rain-hit loss to Punjab Kings in their season opener. With scores of 0 and 1 in the next two matches, Russell would be keen to prove his credentials as he sweated it out during practice.<br /></p>
<p>KKR have tried out different opening combinations in the three matches so far and it is likely to be changed again against SRH, with England opener Jason Roy likely to be included in place of Rahmanullah Gurbaz.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>As for SRH, the Aiden Markram-led side looks strong on paper after some big buys like Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal and Heinrich Klaasen at the auction.<br /></p>
<p>Overflowing with white-ball specialists, SRH, however, have failed to impress in their first two matches. However, a Rahul Tripathi special — 48-ball unbeaten 74 — led them to their first win of the season when they defeated Punjab Kings by eight wickets.<br /></p>
<p>Boosted by the win, the Brian Lara-coached side would look to hold on to their winning momentum and give KKR a strong fight at home.<br /></p>
<p>Tripathi will be up against his former team, playing the role of holding the innings together in the middle overs. Tripathi is someone who can rotate the strike in the middle overs and land a counter-attacking punch with his ability to tackle spin.<br /></p>
<p>SRH would be hoping for the likes of Brook and Klaasen to fire and put up a big total. The high-profile Brook, who has been signed for Rs 13.25 crore, has so far managed scores of 13, 3 and 13.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>They also have a potent spin attack in Washington Sundar and Mayank Markande, fresh from his 4/15 against Punjab Kings, while the pace attack, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marco Jansen, will give KKR a tough fight.<br /></p>
However, SRH have the best expertise to tackle that threat as their spin bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan was seen rolling the arm in the nets during a practice session.
The team will also hope Mayank Markande, who did the maximum damage against Punjab Kings, picking up four for 15 in the last match, gets good support from Washington Sundar who has remained wicketless so far in three matches. England spinner Adil Rashid too has looked ordinary.
SRH’s batting has looked brittle with the team unable to put up even 150 runs so far. KKR on the other hand have already posted two 200 plus scores, one while defending and the other while chasing. The hosts, however, still need better starts as they have lost the maximum number of wickets in the powerplay.
Interestingly, KKR also have the maximum options upfront with England’s Jason Roy and Bangladesh’s Litton Das joining the side. It remains to be seen whether KKR will try out their fourth opening pair in as many games or will go in with the winning combination.
SRH’s main problem seems to be the inability of their key players to deliver so far. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar has looked a pale shadow of his earlier days, skipper Aiden Markram and Harry Brook have failed to live up to their reputations.
The captain, however, was not worried about that and wanted to focus on the team game. “Our team does not completely rely on one or two players but on the squad as a whole to win games,” Markram said. “It’s important to contribute even in small phases in a T20 game and our experienced players know that well,” he stated.
Back-to-back wins will provide wind to SRH’s campaign, but KKR look better balanced to record a hat-trick of victories before playing big away games against Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals next week.
Watch IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders eye hat-trick of wins against Sunrisers Hyderabad
