IPL 2021, SRH v KKR: 3 reasons why Sunrisers Hyderabad will win

The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been two of the main challengers to the Mumbai Indians-Chennai Super Kings duopoly in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years.

However, both enter the 2021 IPL after a somewhat below-standard IPL 2020. While KKR's all-rounders let them down last season, along with a vulnerable Indian batting and pace-bowling core, SRH had some serious middle-order issues once teams got past their top four.

Ultimately, it was SRH who snuck through ahead of KKR on Net Run Rate last season, as some of their late-season selection decisions began to come good. While KKR put together two memorable performances towards the end of the season - against the Delhi Capitals and the Rajasthan Royals - they had lost too many games by massive margins to be able to go through.

Here are three reasons why SRH will beat KKR in their first IPL game this season.

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#3 KKR's selection headaches

While Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell and Pat Cummins are sure starters barring any injuries, KKR have a number of options regarding their fourth overseas player. The incumbent is Sunil Narine, who was economical last season without taking a lot of wickets, and abjectly failed with the bat barring one good game. His backup this season in Shakib Al Hasan is a proven match-winner, but the team may have some trouble benching Narine.

In the Indian department, Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana were quite inconsistent last season, and the team could experiment with the likes of Karun Nair or Pawan Negi. Though Prasidh Krishna's stocks have risen since his successful India debut, the franchise might again play around with their Indian seamers, or may pull a rabbit out of the hat and play Harbhajan Singh. Either way, there could be some muddled thinking from the KKR camp as compared to the relative security of positions in the SRH line-up.

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#2 Middle-overs choke by Rashid Khan

Most of KKR's foreign stars - Russell, Morgan, Cummins - are better players of pace than spin. In the last season, Dinesh Karthik displayed a chronic inability to play leg-spin due to not reading the googly out of the hand, making him an easy target for wrist spinners during the middle overs.

Though the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana are all competent players of spin, they have a tendency to slow down in the middle phase. If the likes of Rashid Khan can bowl a good spell in the middle, he could make the death bowlers' work significantly easier by dismissing the likes of Russell and Karthik early.

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#1 SRH's powerplay pace-bowling dominance

Rahul Tripathi was a sitting duck against quality pace last season, and if KKR persist with him at the top, it could be simple for SRH with the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the swing of Sandeep Sharma. Shubman Gill is a class player, but usually looks to find his timing rather than clearing the infield early on, and can be effectively tied down particularly if wickets fall from the other end.

Given how early wickets tend to lead to more risk-averse batting, SRH can restrict KKR to a low total after making sufficient inroads early on. Although the likes of Russell and Morgan can up the ante, SRH have enough quality in their batting lineup to chase down the total that KKR set from there.