Sunrisers Hyderabad will meet Kolkata Knight Riders in a crucial contest for the top-4 race on Sunday. The KKR have a chance to extend their lead over the fifth-placed SRH by four points, thus gaining a big advantage as they seek to book a playoff berth.
A win for Sunrisers will throw the top-4 race wide open - two teams would then be on 8 points, while CSK and RR are already tied at six points.
As we gear up for another exciting contest in IPL 2020, let's take a look at the stats preview:
Head-to-head tie: Kolkata lead the rivalry with 11 wins in 18 IPL meetings which includes their seven-wicket win in Abu Dhabi last month. However, the two sides have shared the same number of wins in their last 10 meetings. So will SRH win the return fixture?
At the venue: KKR enjoy a 3-4 win-loss record at the venue which includes three wins and two defeats this season. SRH, on the other hand, have just two matches at the venue this season, both last month, winning one and losing the other. The loss came against KKR with SRH being restricted to the lowest team total this season - 142 for four.
Crucial stats:
- Eoin Morgan can opt to bat second in Abu Dhabi if KKR win the toss for the sixth time in eight games this season. Not only has the venue witnessed successful chases in the last three games, KKR have won seven of their nine games against SRH while batting second.
- Dinesh Karthik has struggled immensely against leg-spinners of late. In this season itself, he has been dismissed four times by leggies at a average of just 3.2.
- Could KKR fans see the return of Kuldeep Yadav? Kane Williamson averages 24.5 against Chinaman in IPL. Jonny Bairstow has been dismissed seven times at 30.7 against leggies. And Kuuldeep has taken 10 wickets against SRH, the most he has against any IPL opponent, at 7.78 runs per over.
- Andre Russell has been dismissed thrice by pacers this season at an average of just six. He is vulnerable to wide yorkers and short balls.
- Warner needs 10 runs more to become the first overs batsman to amass 5000 runs in IPL and fourth overall after Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.
