KOLKATA: What can be considered safe total? That question will loom large ahead of the clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.They would have been happy to score over 200 in their opening games of the season, but ended up being the losing side. It’s hard to digest, but harder to find a way out.
Both teams are struggling to come up with a plan B after losing some key players before the first ball is bowled in this IPL. Interestingly, it is his bowling that has suffered the most, making the jobs of KKR coach Abhishek Nair and his SRH counterpart Daniel Vettori all the more difficult in getting the right team combination. All six bowlers used by the sides in their opening match were taken to the cleaners by the opposing batsmen.KKR have always relied on their spinners and in the absence of their key fast bowlers Harshit Rana and Mathisha Patherana, who are yet to join the team, Varun Chakraborty’s role and Sunil Narayan turned out to be more important.
Cameron Greene’s absence certainly leaves the bowlers without an option, but KKR’s spin duo, who scored 78 runs in their combined seven overs against Mumbai Indians, should be a big problem for them. Confidence in Chakraborty seemed low as his poor run from the T20 World Cup Super Eight continued and Narine also failed to put the brakes on.Not bowling Narine, KKR’s most efficient bowler of the night, against Rohit Sharma was poor captaincy by Ajinkya Rahane, against whom he has a good record. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bengaluru spoiled the SRH bowlers by scoring 203 runs in just 15 overs.
Poll
Should KKR change their bowling strategy based on recent performance?
KKR’s middle order was a concern last season and it was this problem that got them into trouble. KKR excelled at 78/1 in the powerplay against MI. But it was in the middle overs that they lost momentum to get just 19 runs in three overs (12-14). Ranko Singh and Ramandeep Singh failed to fill the void left by Andre Russell in the lower order.SRH are missing their regular captain. Pat Cummins And like last season, he continued to score runs with 76 runs against RCB in the Powerplay. Expect some changes as both the camps look to patch things up while KKR will be hoping for a big home run in their next three games.The numbers game
- 3 – Three centuries recorded for SRH vs KKR in IPL — 126 by David Warner on 30 April 2017 at Hyderabad; 100* by Harry Brooke on 14 April 2023 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata and 105* off 39 balls by Henrik Klaasen on 25 May 2025 at Delhi.
- 6.80 – Economy rate by Sunil Narine while taking 193 wickets in 190 matches at 25.65 – best among bowlers to take 150 or more wickets in the IPL.
(Data: Rajesh Kumar)
