Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi | Date & Time: 25 May at 1830 (GST)
BIG PICTURE
Tuesday evening’s eliminator will be a rematch of the league stage’s penultimate game. With the Kolkata Knight Riders taking on the Sunrisers Hyderabad, one team’s journey in the IPL will come to an end in Delhi. To win the tournament from here, the winner of this first eliminator will have to emerge victorious in another two encounters.
With the Knight Riders finishing fourth in the table and the Sunrisers third, this encounter is do-or-die for both sides. The winner will advance to the second qualifier, also to be played in Delhi, on 27 May against the Gujarat Lions.
The last time the two met, Yusuf Pathan was Man-of-the-Match for his vital half-century that led Kolkata to victory. For Sunrisers, Mustafizur Rahman’s wickets have cooled somewhat and Ashish Nehra’s injury has been a crippling bow, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar and David Warner have continued their form largely unaffected.
KKR will be hoping Andre Russell is fit for this key encounter, but with Manish Pandey’s record of performing in crucial games and Pathan’s recent good form, they may not be praying for the Jamaican’s swift recovery with as much fervour. The Sunrisers, meanwhile, will be hoping their bowling reaches the superlative heights that preceded Nehra’s injury and that their middle order gets its act together to aid Warner.
KEY BATTLES
Sunil Narine vs Sunrisers’ batting: Although he has been fairly sedate this season, Narine showed signs of life on a dicey pitch against Sunrisers. Collecting three wickets, the spinner conceded a fairly paltry 26 runs from his 4 overs. Should the Sunrisers not get off to a good start, the unease may set in. Narine can transform that feeling into pure panic.
Kolkata openers vs Sunrisers seamers: Although the Knight Riders are fairly well placed with regards to their batting, they have largely relied on one opener firing to form the backbone of their innings. Should both manage to get good starts, however, the Knight Riders could turn a good score into a potentially huge one. The Sunrisers’ slightly faltering pace attack could not ask for better opponents to raise their game against.
WATCH OUT FOR
Manish Pandey: With a 30-ball 48 and three sixes in Sunday’s matchup, Pandey displayed familiar signs of clutch performances at the business end of the tournament. Peaking when it counts is critical, especially in T20 cricket, and Pandey has proved more than capable in previous editions of the IPL. His contribution could prove more vital than anyone else’s and you shouldn’t be too surprised if he ends up top scoring.
EXPECTED XIs
The Sunrisers will likely stick with much the same team. Slight tweaks may be made here and there to the bowling but major changes, like the reshuffling of foreigners, are unlikely.
David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Naman Ojha (wk), Deepak Hooda, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Mustafizur Rahman
If Andre Russell is fit, his reintroduction seems inevitable, while Morne Morkel could also return.The Knight Riders might look to give their spinners a fair crack of the whip on the Kotla Pitch, which means Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla could both play, although one or the other is more likely.
Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa (wk), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, Suryakumar Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla/Kuldeep Yadav
STRAIGHT FROM TWITTER
.@KKRiders at the Kotla nets ahead of playoffs #IPL pic.twitter.com/8lxvR0x75w
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 24, 2016
