Last Updated on 6 months by Charbel Coorey

It’s time for the IPL 2024 playoffs, with Qualifier 1 set to enthrall at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Sunrisers Hyderabad have stormed into the top two courtesy of their great form as well as Rajasthan Royals’ stumbles, and they have a great chance to go straight to Sunday’s final.

They will have to get past Kolkata Knight Riders, who, under Gautam Gambhir, have been the league’s best team so far this season. However, KKR have not played a game since May 12, with two washouts against Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals respectively. So, whether they can hit the ground running straight away will be key.

In this article, we will look at the possible playing XIs, fantasy tips, Ahmedabad pitch report and Dream11 Prediction for the huge KKR vs SRH showdown.

IPL 2024 Qualifier 1: KKR vs SRH Possible Playing XIIs

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is yet to play a game in this IPL due to the two washouts. He will open in place of the departed Phil Salt.

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2. Sunil Narine, 3. Nitish Rana, 4. Shreyas Iyer (c), 5. Venkatesh Iyer, 6. Andre Russell, 7. Rinku Singh, 8. Ramandeep Singh, 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Varun Chakravarthy, 11. Harshit Rana, 12. Vaibhav Arora/Suyash Sharma

SRH look settled with a strong strategy in place.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1. Travis Head, 2. Abhishek Sharma, 3. Rahul Tripathi/Sanvir Singh, 4. Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5. Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6. Shahbaz Ahmed, 7. Abdul Samad, 8. Pat Cummins (c), 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10. Jaydev Unadkat, 11. Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, 12. T Natarajan

KKR vs SRH: Fantasy Cricket Tips & Top Dream11 Picks for Qualifier 1

Top Dream11 performers from KKR and SRH in IPL 2024:

Top batter picks:

• Travis Head: The Australian missed out in the final league game against PBKS, but he comes into the Qualifier off the back of an extraordinary season to date. His 533 runs come at a strike rate of 201.13.
• Abhishek Sharma: The opener is the second-highest run-scorer for SRH in IPL 2024 with 467 at an average of 38.91 and strike rate of 209.41.
• Abhishek vs. Sunil Narine in the IPL: 22 balls, 39 runs, no dismissal.
• Heinrich Klaasen: The keeper-batter is striking at 183.17 this season. He can be a differential vice-captaincy pick in Dream11 as he hammered 63 off 29 balls against KKR earlier this season.
• Klaasen has smashed 29 off 12 against Varun Chakravarthy (no dismissal) and 22 off 13 against Narine (one dismissal).

Top all-rounder picks:

• Sunil Narine: Over 90% of fantasy players have selected Narine in their team and it’s easy to see why. He is KKR’s top scorer (461, SR 182.93) and has 15 wickets at an economy of just 6.63.
• Andre Russell: The West Indian is striking at 185 this season. Also, expect Russell to have a role to play with the ball, even early on. He has dismissed Abhishek Sharma twice in nine balls in the IPL (11 runs).
• In 15 matches against SRH since 2015, Russell has scored 305 runs (avg. 27.73, SR 172.32) and has taken 19 wickets. His overall record against Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the IPL is staggering: 37 balls, 97 runs, one dismissal.

Top bowler picks:

• Varun Chakravarthy: The mystery spinner is the leading wicket-taker this season (18) among any bowler lining up today. Against SRH, Chakravarthy has taken eight wickets in nine games (avg. 38.13, econ. 7.75), which he will be aiming to improve on.
• T Natarajan is SRH’s top wicket-taker this season with 17. Given he bowls in the crunch death overs, he has the opportunity to take wickets and fetch Dream11 fantasy points.
• Harshit Rana: The seamer has taken 16 wickets this season and is striking every 12.81 deliveries.

Other players to consider for your fantasy cricket team…

• Venkatesh Iyer: The left-hander has struck 39, 26*, 70, 1* and 42 in his past five innings.
• Nitish Kumar Reddy: The SRH all-rounder has been one of their finds of the season. His 276 runs come at a strike rate of 151.64. While he’s gone wicketless in his last four outings, he occupies a good position in the SRH batting lineup which can fetch him points.
• Pat Cummins: The SRH captain has gone wicketless just twice in the past 10 games.
• Bhvuneshwar Kumar: The veteran has stormed into form in recent weeks. After a slow start to IPL 2024, Kumar has picked up seven wickets in his past five games. Bhuvneshwar is the leading-wicket taker in all KKR-SRH games (24) at an average of 29.33 and has taken 14 wickets in nine T20s on this ground.
• Bhuvneshwar vs Sunil Narine in the IPL: 25 balls, 28 runs, two dismissals.

Narendra Modi Stadium Ahmedabad Pitch Report and Weather

Rain has affected the IPL in recent times. However, there should be no such issues in Ahmedabad, with a very hot and clear evening forecast for this game.

The last completed match on this ground was on 11 May where Gujarat Titans smashed 231/3 on a batting belter and beat CSK by 35 runs. Before that, RCB (206/1) chased down GT’s 200/3 with a mammoth 24 balls to spare.

Expect a good batting pitch for this match.

IPL 2024 Qualifier 1: KKR vs SRH Dream11 Prediction Today Match

Note: The below teams are not based on the final playing XIs. We may not be able to update these in time. Use the stats and commentary in this article, as well as your own instincts, to create your teams.

Top captaincy/vice-captaincy options for KKR vs SRH

• Sunil Narine is the top captaincy pick. He has opened the batting with great impact and is sure to be one of KKR’s key bowlers in this clash.
• Travis Head scored a memorable century on this ground in last year’s ODI World Cup Final.
• Abhishek Sharma has smashed 75* and 66 in his past two matches. He looked good earlier in the season against KKR, where he scored a 19-ball 32.
• Andre Russell has some good head-to-head numbers against SRH. He is a big-game player and one to watch.

Option 1:

Option 2:

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