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Join UsContest Between The Two Teams Could Produce A Run Feast
A close contest and run feast are expected when the table toppers in the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, clash on Tuesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
The winner of the match will go to the final to be played on Sunday at Chennai’s Chidambaram Stadium.
The Knight Riders will miss their second-highest run-scorer and wicketkeeper Phil Salt, who has joined the national camp with England ahead of the T20 World Cup. Salt and Sunil Narine had formed a fearsome opening partnership throughout the league phase to score a combined 896 runs between them. With both KKR and SRH piling runs through the league phase, the contest between the two teams could produce a run feast on the clay surface at Motera. For KKR, Naraine gives a fiery start, and their middle order has more than consolidated the batting efforts. The Kolkata bowling, however, has played an equally key role in taking the team to top of the table with 19 points. And they will hold key to the team led by Shreyas Iyer, who has not lived up to his potential.
An aggressive opener, Afghan wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, will have to take Salt’s role with Narine in giving an explosive start to the Knight Riders. He couldn’t get to warm-up for the knockout game as the KKR clash with Rajasthan Royals was washed out on Sunday.
An injury after the first league match against the Sunrisers kept Nitish Rana out for a long time but he marked his return with a useful cameo against the Mumbai Indians. The last two KKR matches were washed off denying Nitish to show his mettle. He will be the man holding the KKR middle order in the qualifier 1 on Tuesday.
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Like Kolkata, the Hyderabad team also has had explosives starts in the league phase with the record-breaking highest score (287 for 3). The winner in the battle of KKR bowlers and SRH batsmen could decide which team books a place first in the final.
