Indian T20 League 2019: Match 2, Kolkata vs Hyderabad – Dotball Fantasy Cricket Guide

In match 2, Hyderabad (SUH) - now under a new captain - take on the Kolkata (KOK) at their home in Kolkata.

Published - 24 Mar 2019, 13:21 IST | Updated - 24 Mar 2019, 13:21 IST

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The second game of the 12th edition of the Indian T20 League will see Hyderabad (SUH) – now under a new captain – take on the Kolkata (KOK). KOK kick an important campaign off at home and weighing on their minds will be the fact that after a golden spell back in 2014-15, they haven’t reached the final even once in the last four seasons despite having a team that was more than a contender.

SUH meanwhile welcome David Warner back into the fold, but with Tom Moody announcing that Kane Williamson will lead the team, it will be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out. Here we take a look at the Dotball Fantasy CricketGuide for Match 2.

Venue- Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Pitch & Conditions:

Usually, spinner friendly although the pitch does offer plenty of runs. Given the strength of the respective bowling attacks, this one is likely to be an evenly matched contest. However, you may want to lean towards spin – spinners’ economy rate is much lower than fast bowlers in the Indian T20 league at Eden Gardens.

Injury updates:

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar might be captaining SUH with Williamson likely to miss Sunday’s game. Meanwhile, KOK have had Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Anrich Nortje ruled out for the season, a major blow to their bowling balance.

Head To Head

Last five meetings SUH 1 | KOK 4

Fantasy Tips

If you are looking for possible captain choices you could go with these ‘Safe Captain Choices’. Andre Russell is a power player and his career T20 strike rate of 166 is an outlier. Even if he gets to bat for just a bit, he can rack those bonuses up.

Sunil Narine is a perennial double threat – his bowling record, in particular, is phenomenal. In a match involving KOK he would always be the first named pencilled into a fantasy squad.

David Warner’s appetite for runs matches his aggression and the fact that he opens makes him a high percentage punt to grab a decent number of points. Incidentally, he has been among those few batsmen who have been prolific against Naraine.

However if you are willing to take a bit more risk, maybe consider these ‘Risky Captain Choices’

Dinesh Karthik is a T20 Maverick, his strike rate in T20s is north of 170 as highlighted by his exploits, most memorably in Sri Lanka and more recently in Australia. More importantly, from a fantasy perspective, he is a bonus machine because of his prolific boundary hitting. The question is, will he get a long enough stint in the middle.

Chris Lynn and his version of Lynnsanity need no introduction. But like a volatile stock, Lynn can either set the stage alight or be extinguished quickly presenting both possibilities of a huge bonanza or big opportunity cost if you place the captain (or vice-captain) badge on him.

Expert Advice

Prasidh Krishna and Andre Russell may open the bowling for KOK, thus making Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla great bowling picks given their ability to dry up runs and force false strokes in the middle overs. It’s likely to be a game bowlers help the winning team edge, so make sure your picks maximise the chances of wicket taking bowlers (we are looking at you, Rashid Khan!) in the team.

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The Prediction

With Williamson missing and Warner perhaps a bit rusty, SUH might find it hard to hit the groove straight away. The home venue makes KOK marginal favourites to sneak a win in a relatively close game.

Likely Playing XIs

SUH:

David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (C), Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma

KOK:

Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Carlos Brathwaite, Dinesh Karthik(C & wk), Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav