Last Updated on 11 months ago by Charbel Coorey

IPL 2021 Match 3: SRH vs KKR Dream11 Prediction Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | SRH vs KKR Dream11 Prediction Today | Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders Key Players | Chennai Pitch Report

After a couple of blockbuster opening days, IPL 2021 is bringing smiles back to the faces of billion Cricket Fans across the globe during these testing times. It will only get better from here as another juicy contest is on the cards when Kolkata Knight Riders will be up against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chennai.

We must admit that despite performing reasonably well in the last 5 years, SRH remains one of the most underrated teams in the IPL. They won the championship in 2016, finished runner-ups in 2018, and more often than you will find them in the Top 4 spots. In the last edition, they finished third.

The Hyderabad-based Franchise retained most of its players. They also managed to get the likes of Jason Roy and Mujeeb Ur Rahman which means that they have got the best overseas talent on offer. It is going to be a good headache for Trevor Bayliss, Tom Moody, and David Warner when they sit to decide the first 4 who start into the playing 11.

Also read: 5 big predictions for IPL 2021

KKR on the other hand is not the same team that they used to under Former Indian Cricketer Gautam Gambhir. They have lost the plot and Eoin Morgan along with Coach Brendon McCullum have plenty to do to bring back the old Kolkata vibes. They finished in fifth spot last year.

In the auction, they managed to get Shakib-Al-Hasan who they consider their lucky charm as he was part of the squad on both the occasions when KKR won the championship. KKR also managed to get the services of Ben Cutting along with Harbhajan Singh.

As far as their Playing 11 is concerned, Lockie Ferguson and Harbhajan Singh should start for them to stop Warner. Both have got the better of Warner on multiple occasions.

Key Player to Watch/Key Stats

• David Warner – One overseas Player who has shown mighty consistency in the IPL is Warner. Despite having an average season with the bat, the SRH Captain was the third-highest run-getter of the previous edition. He scored 548 runs at an average of 39.14 from his 16 innings. 
• Against KKR, he has performed more often than not. In 23 innings against them, he has made 912 runs at an average of 45.6. He has a better record while batting first. Playing at Chennai he averages 26.6 with 186 runs from his 7 games.
• Jonny Bairstow –  Brutal Bairstow is one of the most feared white ball-strikers in World Cricket. He was in red-hot form in limited overs series against India and he will be hoping to build upon that.
• Like his Captain, Bairstow enjoys playing against KKR. In 4 innings he has made 160 runs at an average of 53.3.  He has played only once at this venue and could not open his account.
• Manish Pandey –  Pandey has been a proven performer in the IPL. Last season he made 425 runs from his 16 innings at an average of 32.69.  However, against KKR, he does not have a very good record. In 11 innings he made 195 runs at an average of 21.7. 
• His record further worsens against KKR in 2nd Innings. He has just made 29 runs from 5 innings, with a poor average of 7.2.  Pandey has played 6 innings at this venue and scored 137 runs, he has a better record while batting first.
• Rashid Khan – Khan is a superstar. In last year’s IPL, he picked up 20 wickets and he generally does better while bowling second. Against KKR, he has played 10 games and picked up 9 wickets out of which 6 wickets came bowling second. Khan has played once at this venue and picked up a wicket.
• Jason Holder – Jason Holder came as an injury replacement and did brilliantly for his side. In 7 games he picked 14 wickets and also made 66 runs. Against KKR he has just played once and managed to get a wicket. Holder has bowled 12 overs at this venue in IPL and gone wicketless.
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar – Bhuvi announced his comeback in some style during the limited overs series against England. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury during IPL 2020 and was ruled out of the tourney. He is a better bowler while bowling first.
• Against KKR, he has played 21 matches and picked up 27 wickets out of which 18 came bowling first. Playing at this venue he has 3 wickets from 4 matches, and all his 3 wickets have come while bowling second.
• T Natarajan- The new yorker king. Nattu was the find of the IPL last season. He got 16 wickets from his 16 innings last season. Like Rashid, he also has a better record bowling second. Against KKR he has played 2 games and picked 3 wickets. He will be playing at his home ground.

Kolkata Knight Riders

• Shubman Gill – Gill is undoubtedly one of the most promising young talents on offer in Indian Cricket. He managed 440 runs from his 14 matches at an average of 33.84 in IPL 2020. Against SRH he has 160 runs from his 6 innings at an average of 40. However, he has shown some struggle while batting first. In 3 innings he has just managed 42 runs. 
• Nitish Rana – Rana was tested negative and expected to play the first game. In IPL 2020 he scored 352 runs at an average of 25.14. In 9 innings against SRH, Rana has 235 runs at an average of 26.1. Like his counterpart Gill, he has not done much in 1st innings and just scored 58 runs from his 4 innings. 
• Andre Russell – Russell Muscle! KKR management has invested heavily in the All-Rounder to keep him fit and it’s the payback time for Russell. In 2020 he had a disastrous season where he could only manage 117 runs and 6 wickets from his 10 games at a below-par average of 13. He has his worst figures against SRH. In 9 innings against them, he just averages 13.9 and managed 111 runs, and picked 7 wickets.
• Varun Chakravarthy – Mystery Spinner Varun was the find of the season for KKR. He was their highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets. He has done well bowling second so far in his T20 career. Against SRH, he has picked 2 wickets from his 2 innings. He has played a lot at this venue.
• Eoin Morgan – Captain Morgan believes to win Big you have to take the risk even if it is not there. With this ideology, he would be hoping to turn around the fortunes of his side KKR like he has done for England in the past. In IPL 2020 he scored 418 runs at an average of 41.80.  He has played for SRH in past and while playing against them he has 171 runs at an average of 34.2 from his 6 innings.
• Dinesh Karthik –  DK The Finisher! If DK wants a spot in India’s T20I World Cup Squad this is his final chance. I am quite sure he would be aware of that and looking forward to making the most of this well timely opportunity. IPL 2020 was below par for DK, he only managed 169 runs from 14 games at a poor average of 14.08. 
• Against SRH he has a poor record. He has just managed 259 runs at an average of 16.2. His his average further drops down to 13.8 batting second. Dinesh knows this venue more than anyone as he has grown up playing Cricket here. 
• Patrick Cummins –  Arguably the best bowler in World Cricket right now. Cummins bowled well in IPL 2020 but did not get many wickets. He ended up with 12 wickets but showed his ability with the bat and made 133 runs. Against SRH he has 2 wickets from his 3 games.
• Lockie Ferguson – With his raw pace Ferguson can outsmart anyone. He picked 5 wickets last season. Against SRH he has played twice and picked 3 wickets. All his 3 wickets came in one match bowling second.
• Shakib Al-Hasan – KKR Lucky Charm! Shakib was part of the SRH squad earlier. While playing against them he has not much so far. All-rounder has 4 wickets and 8 runs against SRH from his 4 matches.
• Harbhajan Singh– Bhaji will be donning the KKR Jersey for the very first time. Against SRH he has 15 wickets from his 19 innings. He has a better strike rate while bowling second.
• He loves playing at Chennai and has 20 wickets from his 18 games here. He has played against SRH here once and picked 2 wickets while bowling first.
• Sunil Narine –  It would be fair enough if we say Narine has lost his magic which he had early on in his career. In IPL 2020 he made 121 runs and just picked 5 wickets. Against SRH his record does not get better. In 17 innings against SRH, he just has 10 wickets out of which 7 wickets came bowling second. 
• Prasidh Krishna –  After a sensation International debut, Krishna would be carry on the same form in the T20s as well. In IPL 2020 he managed 4 wickets from 6 games. Against SRH he has 4 wickets in 3 innings. All 4 wickets have come while bowling second first, he has not bowled second against them till now. 
• Shivam Mavi picked 9 wickets from 8 games in IPL 2020 and Kamlesh NagarKoti managed 5 wickets from his 10 games. Both young quicks are better bowlers than stats show and will certainly get better.

Stats and Facts

• Overall Played 19 | KKR 12 | SRH 7
• KKR has dominated against SRH while batting second.
• The average run score when these two sides play is 152.
• In the last 5 years, SRH has won 5 and KKR has won 8 matches.
• Kane Williamson vs KKR: 8 matches, 197 runs, avg. 28.14, SR 129.61.

Predicted Playing XI

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1. David Warner (c), 2. Jonny Bairstow, 3. Manish Pandey, 4. Kane Williamson, 5. Priyam Garg, 6. Abdul Samad, 7. Abhishek Sharma, 8. Rashid Khan, 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10. Sandeep Sharma, 11. T Natarajan

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1. Shubman Gill, 2. Nitish Rana, 3. Rahul Tripathi, 4. Eoin Morgan (c), 5. Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6. Andre Russell, 7. Sunil Narine/Lockie Ferguson, 8. Shivam Mavi/ Kamlesh Nagarkoti, 9. Pat Cummins, 10. Varun Chakravarthy, 11. Harbhajan Singh

Chepauk Chennai Pitch Report & Weather Conditions

Danny Morrison & L Sivaramakrishnan on their pitch report for the first match said  ” When I look at this ground, feels deceptively small but it isn’t. The Test match pitch was different. This one looks a lot better. The new ball will come onto the bat nicely, but the problem will arrive once the ball gets old. Once the spinners come into play, there will be a lot of deviation”

A similar deck is expected for the first match as well. The slower balls of Harshal Patel were mighty effective on the slow Chepauk track.

Weather Forecast suggests Sunday will be hot and humid with temp around 32-35°C.

Dream11 Prediction

Option 1:

Option 2:

Match Prediction

Overall KKR has won most of the matches against SRH but currently has got more players who are in red-hot form. 

SRH are favourites to win this match in our opinion, and will get the job done.

Written by Shekhar Singh. Follow Shekhar on Twitter today.