The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be locking horns with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 47 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 tonight at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. SRH beat KKR by 23 runs in the previous meeting between the two sides in IPL 2023. Kolkata will be keen to avenge that defeat on Thursday.
Both SRH and KKR have struggled to play with consistency in IPL 2023 so far. While the Hyderabad-based franchise is standing at the ninth position in the standings with six points, Kolkata is just one spot above them owing to their superior net run rate. A win in tonight’s match will not take them into the Top 7 of the points table, but it can help the two teams gain some momentum, heading into the final phase of the league stage.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad will be aiming to end their losing streak at home, whereas Kolkata Knight Riders will look forward to avoiding an early elimination by winning tonight’s contest. Before Match 47 of IPL 2023 begins, Here’s a look at the 3 player matchups that may decide the winner of tonight’s game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
#1 Andre Russell vs Rahul Tripathi
Andre Russell has not had his best IPL season so far, but he bowled a decent spell against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first meeting between the two teams. Russell scalped three wickets in 2.1 overs, including the big wicket of Rahul Tripathi. While Tripathi has been one of the top performers in the IPL over the last few editions, he has struggled a bit against Russell’s bowling. Tripathi has faced 17 deliveries from Russell in IPL and lost his wicket thrice to him.
#2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Rahmanullah Gurbaz looked in excellent touch in the last game against the Gujarat Titans. The Afghanistan batter aggregated 81 runs off 39 balls, whacking five fours and seven sixes. He will aim to continue his good form when he plays against SRH. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, will expect Bhuvneshwar Kumar to get the better of Gurbaz cheaply in the powerplay. Kumar did not allow Gurbaz to open his account in the previous meeting between SRH and KKR. The SRH pacer will be keen to replicate it tonight.
#3 Nitish Rana vs Umran Malik
KKR skipper, Nitish Rana struggled against Umran Malik’s pace in the 2021 season. Rana faced 12 balls from Malik and scored only one run. However, in the previous match between KKR and SRH, Rana destroyed Malik by scoring 28 runs off just six balls. Rana came out all guns blazing and smashed four fours and two sixes in Malik’s over to score 28 runs. Malik will be keen to avenge that attack tonight in IPL 2023. It will be exciting to see which player comes out on top in this battle.
