Kolkata Knight Riders will be up against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Both the sides will be coming into this game after losing their previous respective matches. While Sunrisers lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the tournament opener, the Knight Riders suffered a defeat against Mumbai Indians.
Moreover, the two sides lost while defending a target of 200+ which is surely a matter of worry for them as the bowling units have struggled. RCB took just over 15 overs to gun down a target of 202 while MI chased down 221. With the two batting units in good form, a high-voltage drama can be expected in Kolkata.
Here’s a look at 3 players to watch out for.
Abhishek Sharma
Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Abhishek Sharma’s form has been a talk of the town for quite sometime despite being among runs in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026 against New Zealand. The left-handed batter struck a quick-fire fifty then but wasn’t able to continue that form against RCB as he was dismissed for 7 off 8 after being caught by Jitesh Sharma off Jacob Duffey.
The aggressive batter will be looking to return back to form in the next fixture and his contribution will be crucial for the Hyderabad franchise as well. If Sharma is able to provide a brisk start, it would help SRH put up good score in the powerplay overs.
Ishan Kishan
Sunrisers Hyderabad acting captain and wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan started off the IPL 2026 campaign from where he left. Ishan who came in at number three in last match smashed 38-ball 80 to eventually help his side go past 200-run mark. If the openers fail again, Ishan will have to step up for the Sunrisers.
The left-handed batter has the ability to score runs quickly and he showed that in the previous game as well.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi is another batter to watch out for. He has been slowly making a name for himself with consistent performances for KKR and in domestic circuit. In the first match as well, Raghuvanshi hit 51 off just 29 deliveries.
With the kind of batting ability that he has, the stability in the middle-order depends a lot on Raghuvanshi.
Win Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders might have a slight edge as they are playing at home. Moreover, KKR’s top five batters contributed well with the bat while SRH had Ishan Kishan doing the bulk of scoring. This might create problems for the visitors.
Probable XIs
KKR: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Finn Allen (O), Cameron Green (O), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine (O), Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani (O)
Impact Player: Anukul Roy
SRH: Travis Head (O), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (C), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Henrich Klaasen (O), Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Harsh Dubey, David Payne (O), Eshan Malinga (O), Jaydev Unadkat
Impact Player: Zeeshan Ansari
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