SRH vs KKR Match Prediction: Who will win today's battle between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2016, Match 8

Kolkata Knight riders will challenge the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first game of the double header scheduled for today. The contest will take place at Sunrisers' home ground, the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium of Hyderabad. The head to head record suggests that KKR has had the better of the Sunrisers on a majority of occasions. KKR have won 4 out of the 6 games they have played against the Sunrisers.

KKR start favourites

Both teams come here at the back of losses in their previous games. KKR lost a close one to the Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers just sank without trace against the mighty Royal Challengers. KKR though have some points on the board courtesy their win against the Daredevils in the first game but the Sunrisers are yet to open their account. This is Sunrisers' second game though.

Batting beauty is predicted at Hyderabad with spinners coming into play since it’s a 4 pm start. KKR have the upper hand going into this game and the Sunrisers have to play out of their skins to stage an upset here.

Who can win today’s IPL match between Kolkata and Hyderabad

If KKR bats first

Predicted score: 175 and above

Kolkata would look to get off to a steady start with the aggressive Robin Uthappa and the steady Gautam Gambhir. They would look to score around 45 runs in the powerplay and then look to accelerate. If one of them gets out trying to up the ante, the supremely talented Manish Pandey can come in and continue from where he left off on Wednesday.

If KKR decide to play Shakib Al Hasan in place of Colin Munro then Shakib can bring in his experience with the bat. There is also a case for promoting Andre Russell or Yusuf Pathan ahead of Shakib if there are just a few overs remaining in the innings.

If, KKR can get to somewhere between 110 and 120 at the loss of maximum 3 wickets, then surely Russell could come up the order. May be Suryakumar Yadav could also grace the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium with his innovative stroke-play. If KKR lose too many wickets and are struggling, say at 150/7 after 18 overs, then John Hastings and Piyush Chawla can show their skills with the bat and push the score towards that 170 mark. Ideally though, KKR would not want a situation like that.

The bowlers can defend the total but they should not repeat the mistakes they made while defending a big score in their last game. If Gautam Gambhir decides to bring in Shakib and Narine, then those two can bowl in tandem to strangle the opposition. Narine might be given one over spells and will be called upon when KKR needs a break desperately. If Brad Hogg is preferred over Narine then he can do a similar job. Also the likes of John Hastings, Andre Russell and Umesh Yadav(if he gets a game) could try to unsettle the batters with frequent changes in pace. John Hastings, being a big man, could bowl some short stuff to Dhawan upfront. We can expect a comfortable 20 run win for the KKR if they bat first.

If the Sunrisers bat first

Predicted score: 165 and above

Explosive Warner opens the batting with out of form Shikhar Dhawan. If Dhawan is dismissed early, Kane Williamson, who might replace Moises Henriques, will get the opportunity to showcase his class. If these two can string a partnership of 80 odd and get the score to around 100 after 15 overs, then it will be familiar territory for someone like Eoin Morgan or Deepak Hooda.

If Morgan can crack a quickfire 30 with a strike rate close to 200, then the Sunrisers can achieve a target of 165 plus. It will tough though against the likes of Narine or Hogg, Hastings, Russell and company.

The bowlers have to bowl out of their skins to defend anything against a batting line up as aggressive and powerful as the KKR. For that they need to dismiss the openers first. If Bhuvneshwar Kumar , Mustafizur Rahman and Barinder Sran, who might replace the injured Ashish Nehra, can give the vital breakthroughs upfront, SRH can make a fist of this game. If KKR is reeling at say 20/2, then they might send someone like Shakib(if he plays) up the order. Karn Sharma’s leg spin should be handy in the middle overs. If they can pick at least 5 KKR wickets by the end of say 12 overs, then the Sunrisers can close the game with Mustafizur Rahman’s expert death bowling.