IPL 2018, KKR vs SRH: Five Players to watch out for

Modified May 25, 2018 17:45 IST

Scoring a paltry 140 batting first in the Qualifier-1 at Wankhede Stadium, Sunrisers Hyderabad blew away a chance for automatic qualification, as their fragile batting line-up failed to live up to its potential. SRH succumbed to a two-wicket loss when Chennai Super Kings made an inspirational comeback from the jaws of defeat and made their way into their 7th IPL final on Tuesday.

A few hours later at the Eden Gardens, the Knight Riders came up with a professional display to oust the first IPL champions, Rajasthan Royals, in front of their home crowd, in the eliminator match.

Thus the winners of the eliminator, Kolkata Knight Riders and the losers of the Qualifier-1, Sunrisers Hyderabad will now square off in the second Qualifier of the Indian Premier League today at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

So, let us take a look at the five players who can make an impact in this high-octane clash:

#5 Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson along with Shikhar Dhawan have shouldered the whole burden of the fragile SRH batting line up. With his wide variety of shots, he has shown how to score runs on the slow and turning surfaces of their home ground, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad.

Thus far the SRH skipper has amassed 685 runs in fifteen innings with the help of eight fifties at an average of 57.08 and a decent strike-rate of 143.61.

With his team losing to CSK in the Qualifier-1, the onus will be on Williamson to come up with a big innings to complement their lethal bowling unit in the virtual semi-final today.

#4 Andre Russell

The Caribbean player has made headlines earlier this season with his unbeaten 36-ball-88 against CSK and 11-ball-41 against DD. But the big-hitting all-rounder was a bit off color for quite some time after that.

However, the 30-year-old found his mojo at the right time and delivered a match-winning performance with his unbeaten 49 against Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator.

Thus far the Russell has had a decent season scoring 313 runs and scalping 13 wickets. Riding high on confidence after his match-winning knock in the Eliminator, he will be raring to repeat the same against SRH today.

#3 Prasidh Krishna

Not many people know that the Kolkata Knight Riders' latest sensation Prasidh Krishna was actually signed as a replacement for the injured U-19 star Kamlesh Nagarkoti.

The Karnataka lad has grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he thus far picked up ten wickets in just six matches with his 4/30 against the very SRH being his best. He was also given the responsibility of bowling at the death this season and the youngster has excelled in it too.

Given his composure during crunch times, Kolkata would be hoping that the 22-year-old would deliver a match-winning performance today as well.

#2 Dinesh Karthik

The KKR skipper has been leading his team from the front this season with his measured knocks. Karthik is the leading run scorer for KKR this season with 490 runs in 15 innings.

As SRH have the strongest bowling line-up of the season in the form Bhuvneshwar, Kaul, Rashid, and Shakib, it will be a fascinating battle to watch Karthik face them in this pressure game.

Given his ability to handle pressure and his rich vein of form, it will be interesting to see how Karthik fares in this all-important clash.

#1 Rashid Khan

The 19-year-old was right on the money in the Qualifier-1 against CSK where he almost pulled off an impossible for his team with his exceptional spell of 4-0-11-2.

Rashid Khan has thus far picked 18 wickets in 15 matches giving at just 6.91 runs per over.

Given his ability to stem the flow of the runs during the middle overs, SRH would expect the leggie to put in similar kind of performance today to help his team get over the line to meet CSK in the grand finale on Sunday.