Kolkata Knight Riders welcome Sunrisers Hyderabad to the iconic Eden Gardens in Match 19 of IPL 2023 on Friday. The hosts will be brimming with confidence after their spectacular 3-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in their previous game. Their opponents Sunrisers are also coming into this contest on the back of a win after dismantling Punjab Kings by 8 wickets.
Lwanele Poswayo has prepared his betting tips for this game.
Betting Preview
The Knight Riders have relied on heroics from their lower order to win their last two games, with Shardul Thakur and Rinku Singh playing key roles. Despite that, KKR will be full of confidence after defending and chasing 200+ scores in both games. Venkatesh Iyer’s 83 off 40 balls was a welcome bonus as the talented batter returned to form. He’ll have a huge part to play in this game.
The visitors on the other hand finally got off the mark after losing their opening two games. The arrival of their South African players has seen the team look more solid with Marco Jansen bowling an impressive spell, taking two wickets in the PowerPlay against PBKS. Captain Aiden Markram also contributed to the victory, with his unbeaten 37 off 21 balls. Legspinner Mayank Markande, who bowled an impressive spell of 4 for 15 in the match against Punjab Kings, will be key in the middle overs.
KKR will be boosted by the arrival of Jason Roy and Litton Das, who’ll add quality and firepower to their batting lineup. The hosts also boast an impressive 15/8 H2H record against SRH. Despite that, I see value in backing the Sunrisers at 2.05, who looked great in their previous match with Harry Brook yet to fire. This might be the game where he announces his arrival in the IPL.
Key Stat
So far this season, the Knight Riders’ batters have hit 31 sixes, compared to the Sunrisers who have scored just 11. In fact, Hyderabad conceded the most sixes in seven of their last eight matches.
Sunil Narine has restricted Aiden Markram to less than a run-a-ball in their H2H T20 matchup, conceding 20 runs off 23 balls.
No Sunrisers bowler has taken more than two total powerplay wickets so far this season.
Sunrisers have struggled against spinners in IPL 2023. They have lost 12 wickets to spin so far, the second-most for a team behind Delhi Capitals. They also have the lowest strike rate (101) and average (13.7) against spinners this season.
Sunrisers have hit only 15 sixes in the powerplay in IPL since 2022, the least for a team in this period.
The all-time average first innings score at Eden Gardens is 163. However, all but one of the last ten cleared at least 175 runs.
KKR have won 24 of their 35 home matches when winning the toss (69%).
T Natarajan has dismissed Nitish Rana in two of four innings but at the cost of 57 runs from 31 deliveries.
Best Bets
Prediction: Sunrisers Hyderabad to win at 2.05
Suggested Bet: KKR to hit the most sixes at 1.57
Value Bet: S Narine to be KKR’s top bowler at 4.00