IPL 2016: Sunrisers Hyderabad eye maiden win in front of home crowd against formidable Kolkata Knight Riders

Hyderabad: Eyeing their first win of the season, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) would be looking to put up an improved show in their home ground where they lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who would also be keen to get back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Hyderabad on Saturday. Sunrisers suffered a 45-run loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their opening game with RCB’s Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Sarfaraz Khan having a blast with the bat against the hapless Hyderabad bowlers. A victory against KKR, at the Rajiv Gandhi International cricket stadium, will go a long way in bringing Sunrisers’ campaign back on track. [caption id=“attachment_2731452” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  SRH captain David Warner, who scored a lone half-century in the previous game, will hope for a better performance from his side against KKR. Sportzpics/IPL[/caption] Two-time title winners KKR also lost their last match, having started the tournament with a victory. SRH could not make it to the final four last year and the task that awaits them is again easier said than done as KKR, champions in 2012 and 2014, are one of the strongest outfits in the tournament. Though they suffered a reverse against Mumbai Indians, KKR were at its dazzling best against Delhi Daredevils. The Knight Riders will definitely get a boost if they include mystery spinner Sunil Narine in the playing XI, who was rested in the last game after making the long journey back after attending his father’s funeral. Narine would make a handy combination with the chinaman bowler Brad Hogg. Even in the absence of Narine, Hogg and Andre Russel restricted Delhi Daredevils to a sub-100 total with their canny bowling. The Shahrukh Khan-owned outfit has some classy batsmen in its ranks as well, including Robin Uthappa, skipper Gautam Gambhir, Russel and Manish Pandey. The Sunrisers too boast of a strong line-up and potential match winners in captain David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Kane Williamson and Yuvraj Singh. It remains to be seen whether Yuvraj, who sustained an injury during the recent World T20, would be available for Saturday’s match. The form of some of the top-order batsmen, including Dhawan and Williamson, has been a matter of concern and they would look to come out all guns blazing. Sunrisers has some seasoned and also promising young players, including Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Karn Sharma and new acquisition Mustafizur Rahman, in the bowling department. Squads: Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautham Gambhir (c), Piyush Chawla, John Hastings, Brad Hogg, Jason Holder, Sheldon Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, Chris Lynn, Manan Sharma, Morne Morkel, Colin Munro, Sunil Narine, Manish Pandey, Yusaf Pathan, Ankit Rajput, Andre Russell, Rajgopal Satish, Shakib Al Hasan, Jaydev Unadkat, Robin Uthappa, Suryakumar Yadav and Umesh Yadav. Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Bipul Sharma, Trent Boult, Ben Cutting, Shikar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhimanyu Midtun, Eoin Morgan, Mustafizur Rahman, Ashish Mehra, Naman Ojha, Vijay Shanker, Karn Sharma, Barinder Sran, T Suman, Aditya Tare, Kane Williamson and Yuvraj Singh.