IPL Qualifier 1: Without Phil Salt, KKR take on power-hitters SRH

High-flying Kolkata Knight Riders and unpredictable Sunrisers Hyderabad, teams that finished one and two in the league stage, will look to outmuscle each other in IPL Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

KKR were the first team to qualify for the IPL playoffs with nine wins in 12 matches before their next two got rained out. SRH finished second with a timely boost on Sunday when they beat Punjab Kings by four wickets, to finish ahead of Rajasthan Royals on net run rate.

While it has been relentless cricket over the last 70 matches, the lack of action in the last week could be a challenge of its own - especially for KKR. Both teams featured on Sunday and only got a day’s time to jet around and reach Gujarat for the first of the playoff matches.

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SRH would feel they have hit their strides after the comprehensive win over PBKS. KKR, meanwhile, haven’t played any cricket since 11 May.

Shreyas Iyer-led KKR had won four in a row before rain washed away their last two league games and their momentum to build.

For KKR another challenge comes in the form of the void created by Phil Salt’s absence. Their second-highest run-scorer and wicketkeeper Salt (435 runs) left the camp for national duties with England ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Salt had forged a superb partnership with Sunil Narine (461) at the top of the order and KKR were immensely benefited by their ultra-aggressive approach, backed up well by a potent middle-order even though skipper Iyer (287) has not had a major impact yet.

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The washed out contests robbed KKR of an opportunity to give expected replacement Rahmanullah Gurbaz a go at the top with Narine, something that would have settled a few nerves.

For KKR, the form of Nitish Rana adds more solidity to the middle-order while a fiery Andre Russell among the finishers promise them vital runs.

In many ways, SRH match KKR’s firepower on paper and that is what adds more to the lure of this contest.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have both got their runs at a strike rate exceeding 200 while inspiring their side to rewrite a few records.

Australian southpaw Head has in many ways redefined aggressiveness with the bat while also remaining successful (533 runs with one century and four fifties).

His fearlessness has also brought the best out of the young Indian batter Abhishek (467), who has clobbered an overall 41 sixes this IPL 10 more than his overall tally of 31 in the previous six seasons.

SRH have also managed to find answers to a couple of questions which were lingering on for a while. At No 3, the 2016 winners have found a dependable option in Rahul Tripathi who can both accelerate as well as weather storms when bowlers are on-song.

Additionally, Heinrich Klaasen has rediscovered his form after a dip in the middle of the tournament. With a crucial knock of 42 against PBKS, Klaasen has signalled having found his mojo back, which only makes SRH even more formidable.

At Ahmedabad, as seen in the World Cup final last year, teams batting second have had more success, winning four out of six completed games while only twice the team which batted first could defend successfully.

Also, against the style of play for both these teams to bury oppositions under mountains of runs this venue has had only two scores of 200 or above in 12 innings, which means the bowlers will also have their say.

If KKR have a battery of spinners to back their fast bowlers led by Mitchell Starc, SRH’s pace bowling attack led by skipper Pat Cummins has time and again produced unified efforts to make their mark.

In their only meet earlier this season back in late March, KKR had pipped SRH by four runs in a high-scoring game.

(with inputs from PTI)