IPL 2023, SRH vs KKR: SunRisers Hyderabad top-order under pressure ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders fixture

Former champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) will expect more consistency from its top order when it hosts former two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. Both teams are languishing at the bottom of the table, and another loss will put a severe dent in their playoff qualification chances.

Getting Abhishek Sharma back to open worked in the previous game for SunRisers. It hopes its other opener, Mayank Agarwal, will find some fluency. The batting has yet to click for SunRisers; therefore, it is not a surprise they find themselves in a desperate situation in the second half of the tournament.

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While Agarwal is striking at an underwhelming 110 at the top, number three Rahul Tripathi is not faring any better either. Skipper Aiden Markram also needs to lead from the front, and Harry Brook, despite scoring a hundred, has failed in most of the games. He is back in the middle order, and the management hopes he finds some rhythm.

All-rounder Washington Sundar being ruled out of the IPL due to injury is a big blow to SunRisers. Pacer Umran Malik has the worst economy rate among the bowlers and has only taken five wickets in seven games, contributing to the team's woes. KKR, too, would expect more fluency from their batters as they look to get their campaign back on track after six defeats in nine games.

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They have been found wanting in all three game departments, something that skipper Nitish Rana mentioned after losing to Gujarat Titans (GT). "In crucial games and against top oppositions, you need to do all the basics well in all the three departments of the game," he had said. Rana has yet to show the consistency expected of him, while N Jagadeesan has struggled at the top. Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have shown good form at the top, but the management can only play one.

The pace bowlers leaking runs has also been hurting KKR. All-rounders Andre Russell and Shardul Thakur have conceded more than ten runs per over. Harshit Rana did well in his first game and will likely start again. The spin trio of Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Suyash Sharma has been influential but needs support from the fast bowlers.

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Squads:
KKR: Nitish Rana (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh and Jason Roy.
SRH: Aiden Markram (c & wk), Abdul Samad, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Mayank Markande, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Sanvir Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akeal Hosein and Anmolpreet Singh.

Match details
Date and day: May 4, 2023 (Thursday)
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Time: 7.30 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): Star Sports 1 and other Star Sports regional language channels - Also available in HD
Where to watch (Online): JioCinema