Buoyant Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their winning momentum when they face defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier league here on Saturday.
It will be a battle between two top bowling sides of the IPl and Kolkata will hope to avenge their defeat in the Eliminator round last season. After a win and a loss, the two-time former champions began their campaign at home with an eight-wicket thrashing of Kings XI Punjab with 21 balls to spare last night.
Their 11th successive run-chase at Eden Gardens was made possible by another Gautam Gambhir masterstroke in letting Sunil Narine open the innings as the duo killed their chase with their best ever Powerplay display of 76 runs. KKR's spirited run was halted by Mumbai Indians in their second match but last night's victory with Narine shining with the bat will boost the team which is struggling to find lynn's immediate replacement.
One of the reasons for KKR's consistency has been their skipper Gambhir's form with the bat. He notched up a record- equalling 33rd IPl fifty and would look to continue his good form.
With SRH also boasting a superb pace-cum-spin attack in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan, who lead the tally with 13 wickets from three matches, it promises to be a nice contest between bat and ball. Purple Cap holder Bhuvneshwar has been outstanding at the death and he and veteran Ashish Nehra are two key Indians of their pace attack that also features Mustafizur Rahman who played a key role in their 2016 title-winning journey.