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IPL 2023: Sunrisers top order batsmen will be under pressure in the match against KKR

Hyderabad. The pressure will be on their top-order to deliver when Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Thursday. The performance of both these teams has not been good so far and they will have to play well in all the matches ahead to make it to the playoffs. KKR currently have six points from nine matches while Sunrisers have six points from eight matches. They are in eighth and ninth place respectively in the points table. Sunrisers’ top-order batsmen have lacked consistency in their performances so far. The decision to send Abhishek Sharma to open the innings in the last match proved to be correct but the team would be hoping for a good performance from the other opener Mayank Agarwal as well.

Sunrisers batsmen have so far failed to make a collective contribution and if the team has to keep its hopes of reaching the playoffs alive, its batsmen will have to perform consistently. Agarwal has so far been able to score runs at a strike rate of 110, while Rahul Tripathi, who came in to bat at number three, has also not been able to make a useful contribution. Captain Aiden Markram needs to lead from the front while Harry Brook has failed in most matches despite scoring a century. He is being brought back into the middle order and is expected to find some rhythm.

All-rounder Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the IPL due to injury, which has come as a blow for the Sunrisers. Umran Malik has proved to be expensive in bowling which is a matter of concern for the team. He has taken only five wickets in seven matches so far. KKR will also be hoping to maintain consistency in performance from their batsmen. KKR will need to do well in all three departments if they are to keep their hopes of reaching the knockouts alive. Captain Nitish Rana had admitted after the defeat against Gujarat Titans that his team needed to perform better in all three departments.

Rana himself has so far not performed as expected while N Jagadishan has disappointed at the top of the order. Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have shown good form but only one of these two can be included in the playing XI. KKR fast bowlers are giving away runs which is a matter of concern for them. All-rounders Andre Russell and Shardul Thakur have conceded more than 10 runs per over. Harshit Rana did well in his first match and is likely to find a place in the playing XI again. The spin trio of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakraborty and Suyash Sharma is doing well but they need support from the pacers as well.

Also read: IPL 2023: Big blow to Lucknow, KL Rahul out of remaining season, Quinton de Kock will get a chance

Squad: Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana (Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaj, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakraborty, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh , N. Jagdishan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Liton Das, Mandeep Singh and Jason Roy. Sunrisers Hyderabad: Aiden Markram (Captain), Abdul Samad, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansson, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Karthik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Mayank Markande, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Sanveer Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akil Hossain and Anmolpreet Singh. Match starts: 7.30 pm Indian time.

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