IPL 2018: Match 54, Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders– Expectation vs Reality

The visitors were clinical when it mattered the most and have qualified for the playoffs.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad
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Sunrisers Hyderabad celebrates fall of Shreyas Iyer’s wicket. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav/IANS)

One team is already guaranteed to stay within the top 2 positions of the league table while the other is trying its best to qualify for the next stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. It’s the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) versus the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Saturday’s second match. The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad will serve as the venue for the high-octane encounter.

SRH are sitting comfortably in the topmost region of the points table and will be eager to maintain that in order to get the maximum advantage in the play-offs stage. On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik-led KKR will have their last shot at making it to the playoffs on their own accord, without having to depend on the Net Run Rate (NRR) game-play. Before the real action commences, let’s take a sneak peek into what we’re expecting from the match.

Kane Williamson to continue with his sensational form

SRH skipper, Kane Williamson has been sensational in this season of the IPL, hitting one match-winning knock after the other. He’s scored 625 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of 140.45 and currently ranks second in the list of contention for the Orange Cap. Come the last SRH game in the round-robin stage of the season, Williamson can be expected to extend his golden run in the ongoing season of the league.

SRH’s last match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) saw Williamson score 81 runs comprising 7 boundaries and 5 sixes. Had he not been dismissed in the final over, the skipper might as well have taken his team over the line while chasing a gargantuan total of 219 runs. He’ll look to score ample runs in order build the pressure on the opposition.

Kane-Williamson-X-Men

Robin Uthappa to come to the party

Robin Uthappa has been hailed as a consistent run-getter for the KKR, owing to his ability to fetch runs for his team, irrespective of the opposition. He’s already amassed 301 runs in 13 innings and will be eager to hit a few more of those crackling shots of his in order to help his team qualify for the playoffs.

KKR will be wary of what can be arguably called the best bowling line-up of the season in the form of SRH. Facing bowlers like Rashid Khan and Siddarth Kaul who’ve been splendid with the ball all throughout the IPL 2018, Uthappa will know the importance of the big knock that his team will be expecting from him. Having conceded 218 runs to the RCB in the previous game, some chinks in the armour of SRH bowling have been exposed and the explosive batsman will look to exploit them to the best of his ability.

Here’s the reality right after the match..

Prasidh restricts SRH

The Sunrisers got off to an excellent start courtesy of their openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shreevats Goswami. Their skipper Williamson then batted aggressively and were right on top until the 14th over of the innings. But the fall of the skipper sucked the momentum out of the innings and the youngster Prasidh Krishna took over. His magnificent three-over spell at the death restricted SRH as he also took 4 key wickets. In the end, despite being comfortably placed, the hosts could only muster 172 runs in 20 overs.

As expected, Uthappa comes to the party

We expected Robin Uthappa to come to the party and he arrived finally playing a decent knock for his team. After the fall of Narine’s wicket, he added 67 runs with Chris Lynn for the second wicket to keep KKR ahead in the chase. Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish the game and was dismissed on 45 runs with only a few runs needing to win. The skipper Dinesh Karthik was as usual in the middle to finish the proceedings calmly as a few wickets fell towards the end. They won the game by 5 wickets and became the third team to qualify for the playoffs.

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