Kolkata Knight Riders aim to bounce back on home turf against a struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad in a rematch of the IPL 2024 final, with big performances expected from Travis Head and Harshit Rana.
April 3, 2025: The Indian Premier League 2025 continues with Match 15 featuring Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, April 3. This game holds extra narrative weight as it’s a rematch of last season’s final, where KKR triumphed convincingly. However, both teams have had mixed starts this year and find themselves looking for stability.
Current Form & Head-to-Head
KKR, led by Ajinkya Rahane, have seen a rollercoaster start with one solid win sandwiched between two disappointing losses. SRH, captained by Pat Cummins, started strong but have failed to sustain momentum, losing their last two encounters.
The head-to-head record heavily favors KKR with 18 wins in 28 matches, compared to SRH’s 9. Eden Gardens has traditionally offered high-scoring games, making this contest a likely run-fest.
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Pitch & Conditions
The Eden surface is expected to assist batting with a bit of swing early on for pacers. Spinners could come into play later in the innings. The team winning the toss is likely to opt for bowling first, considering the dew factor and chasing advantage under lights.
Key Players to Watch
- Travis Head (SRH): The Aussie opener is in red-hot form with 136 runs in 3 games at a strike rate nearing 192. His aggression in the powerplay can set the tone for Hyderabad.
- Harshit Rana (KKR): The young pacer has been impressive in bursts and will be crucial with the new ball and at the death. Expect him to exploit SRH’s fragile middle order.
Probable Playing XIs
KKR:
Quinton de Kock (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Impact Player: Vaibhav Arora
SRH:
Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (c), Zeeshan Ansari, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami.
Impact Player: Adam Zampa
Match Prediction
While SRH boasts powerful hitters and experienced bowlers, KKR’s dominance at Eden Gardens and superior head-to-head record makes them the favourites for this encounter. If their top order fires and spinners apply the choke, KKR could walk away with two crucial points.
🧠 Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders to win a high-scoring encounter.
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