Kolkata Knight Riders will face off against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 8 of IPL 2020. Both teams will coming into the contest with losses in the previous encounter and will be eager to register their first win of IPL 2020. 

The David Warner led Sunrisers failed to chase down the target against RCB, on the other hand, KKR disappointed in their first match and faced heavy defeat against defending champions Mumbai Indians. 

Match Timings and Venue

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi 

Time: 7:30 IST 

Head To Head 

Matches Played 17

KKR won: 10

SRH won: 7

Weather Forecast

Hot and humid with no wind and humidity level around 56% and Temperatures ranging between 28 to 38-degree Celcius. 

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad – Fantasy Tips

The middle-order completely crumbled during the chase in their first match of the season. Apart from Johnny Bairstow, no other batsmen looked confident and in form as a result they lost the match from a winning position. 

The focus will be on skipper David Warner who rarely fails two matches in a row in IPL. The opening batsman has a terrific IPL record and will be looking to lead from the front. Warner can be picked as captain or vice-captain of your fantasy team. 

Manish Pandey will also be crucial for SRH as he will be batting at number 3 and is their best Indian batsman. With an injury to Mitchell Marsh, Mohammad Nabi should be included in the squad as he has been outstanding with both bat and ball in T20 cricket. 

Lastly, the trump card for the Sunrisers will once again be Rashid Khan. The top leg spinners will be aiming to pick loads of wickets for his side and also contribute late down the order his opportunity to bat arrives. 

 Key Players SRH: Warner, Bairstow, Rashid Khan, Manish Pandey. 

Also Read: IPL 2020: Match 6, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab – 5 Talking Points

Much like SRH the batting of KKR also disappointed in their match against MI. Chasing a total of 200 there was no intent showed by any batsmen as all of them looked rusty. 

Shubman Gill and Sunil Narine will be expected to provide a much better start so that their explosive middle-order can come in the contest. 

Also, Eoin Morgan should not bat any lower than 4 as he needs to face many deliveries as he is currently one of the best white-ball batsmen in the world. Skipper Dinesh Karthik should also stick to batting in the lower order as he is at his best when he is looking to finish an innings. 

Their star bowler Pat Cummins also needs to bring his A-game against SRH after his awful performance with the ball. Cummins will be hoping to justify his Rs 15.5 crores price tag and be a match-winner for his franchise throughout IPL 2020. 

Andre Russell’s form is also a massive worry for KKR as they heavily depend on their great all-rounder. If Russell can fire against SRH, KKR will be surely in a winning position as he has the game to win a t20 match single-handedly. 

Key Players KKR: Morgan, Russell, Dinesh Karthik 

Predicted XI

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk /c), Nikhil Naik, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Priyam Garg, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan. 

Also Read: IPL 2020: Sunil Gavaskar Picks Playing XI Of Sunrisers Hyderabad

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Fantasy Picks

Captain – Warner ©, Andre Russell 

Vice-Captain – Johnny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan 

Batters – Warner (c), Bairstow (VC), Morgan (VC), Manish Pandey, Shubman Gill 

All-Rounders – Russell ©, Nabi 

Bowlers – Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav 

Match Prediction 

On paper, KKR does long a stronger side than SRH. However, if the opening pair of Warner and Baristow click together for Sunrisers they sure can defeat KKR. 

KKR batsmen will be required to bat with much more intent and dominate the bowling of SRH. Finally, Kolkata Knight Riders to win with Andre Russell making a huge contribution for them. 

Also Read: IPL 2020: Match 5, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians – Match Report