File Image: KKR and SRH Players (Image Credit: IPL) KOLKATA: What can be considered a safe total? That question will haunt Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of their clash at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.They would have loved to score more than 200 runs in their opening matches of the season, but still ended up losing. It’s hard to digest, but harder to find a way out.
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Greenstone Lobo predicts IPL 2026 winner Both the teams are trying to implement plan B after losing some key players even before the first ball was bowled in this IPL. Interestingly, it was their bowling that fared the worst, making it difficult for KKR coach Abhishek Nayar and his SRH counterpart Daniel Vettori to get the right team combination. All six bowlers used by the sides in their opening match were taken to the dugouts by the opposing batsmen.KKR have always relied on their spinners and with the absence of their key pacers Harshit Rana and Matheesh Pathiran, who is yet to join the side, the role of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine has become more important.Missing bowler Cameron Green has definitely deprived the side of an option, but KKR’s spin duo of 78 runs in their combined seven overs against Mumbai Indians should worry them more. Chakaravarthy looked low on confidence as his poor run from the T20 World Cup Super Eights continued and Narine also failed to put the brakes on.It was poor captaincy on Ajinkya Rahane’s part for not fielding Narine, who was KKR’s most economical player of the night, against Rohit Sharma, against whom he has a good record. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bengaluru scoring 203 runs in just over 15 overs does not speak volumes for the SRH bowlers.
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KKR’s middle order was an area of concern last season and the same problem has plagued them again. KKR got to a respectable 78/1 in the Powerplay against MI. But it was in the middle overs that they lost momentum and scored just 19 runs in three (12-14) overs. Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh failed to fill the void left by Andre Russell in the lower order.SRH are missing their regular skipper Pat Cummins and like last season, they continued to pile on the runs in the Powerplay where they scored 76 against RCB. Expect a few changes as both camps look to patch things up while KKR will be hoping for a great home run in their next three games.THE NUMBERS GAME
- 3 – Three hundreds were scored for SRH vs KKR in IPL — 126 by David Warner at Hyderabad on 30 April 2017; 100* by Harry Brook at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on 14 April 2023 and 105* off 39 balls by Heinrich Klaasen at Delhi on 25 May 2025.
- 6.80 – Economy rate from Sunil Narine in claiming 193 wickets at 25.65 runs apiece in 190 matches – best among bowlers with 150+ wickets in IPL.
(Stats: Rajesh Kumar)
