Going into the KKR vs SRH final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the Knight Riders have the upper hand with a winning margin of 18-9. In the last face-off between these two teams during the first qualifier, the Knight Riders hammered the Sunrisers by eight wickets with more than six overs to spare.
When it comes to the batting in the powerplay, both these two teams have been excellent thanks to their openers. This has been the reason why they are getting good platforms in most of the game. Going into the KKR vs SRH final, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have the top first six overs strike rate of 182.96, with 988 runs in 15 innings, at an average of 38.
The Hyderabad franchise has been blessed with the performance of the two openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, both of whom are brutal at the top of the batting order. The ‘Orange Army’ have nailed 109 boundaries, ahead of the KKR vs SRH fixture, which is the joint most of all the ten teams. Their 58 over-boundaries are the highest in the powerplay time-frame too.
The Kolkata Knight Riders too have been fabulous in the powerplay batting department. The likes of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine have been quite impressive with their free-flow batting in the first six overs. They have a strike rate of 167.09 in this time, which is the third best of all the 10 franchises. They have scored 782 IPL runs in the first six overs of the IPL, before the KKR vs SRH final.
These runs have come at an average of 39.10, shouldering on 88 boundaries, and 100 sixes in this session. They have also lost only 20 wickets in these first six overs, which tells how the openers and number three batter have mostly done the job with the stick in hand. The KKR vs SRH final will provide another chance to display two powerful batting sides taking on each other.
KKR vs SRH Head-to-Head Records
| Matches Played | 27 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders Won | 18 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad Won | 09 |
| No Result | 00 |
| First Played | April 14, 2013 |
| Last Played | May 21, 2024 |
KKR vs SRH Probable Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk.), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
KKR Impact Sub: Anukul Roy.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Probable XI: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klassen (wk.), Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan.
SRH Impact Sub: Shahbaz Ahmed.
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KKR vs SRH Best Players Prediction
Best Batter Prediction: Andre Russell
Over the years playing at the MA Chidambaram ground, Andre Russell has been fantastic with the bat in the lower order, with 215 runs at a strike rate of 146.3. He could look to bring his best on the big KKR vs SRH final evening.
Best Bowler Prediction: Sunil Narine
Sunil Narine has been quite brilliant when it comes to bowling in Chennai during the IPL. The off-spinner has nailed eight wickets in seven innings at this venue at an economy of 6.66. Against the explosive batters of the SRH side, he could be a huge asset in the bowling department.
KKR vs SRH Match Winner Prediction:
Looking at how things have unfolded so far in this IPL and how the conditions and the surface have played out, the Kolkata Knight Riders are ahead for their third IPL trophy.