SRH search for second win, wind

SRH    (lost to DD)
What went wrong: Hyderabad’s middle-over bowlers just couldn’t sustain the initial pressure applied by Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Hence, after Mayank Agarwal was dismissed in the third over of the day, captain David Warner allowed Shreyas Iyer and his opposite number JP Duminy to settle in nicely by bringing on the likes of Praveen Kumar and Ravi Bopara. The other big problem was the fact that SRH’s lone spinner in Karn Sharma struggled to get any purchase off the Vizag wicket. So once he was hit out of the attack by conceding 25 in two, the part-timer in Ashish Reddy was forced to fill in for him. Between them, Sharma and Reddy gave away 40 in 4.

What went right: Ravi Bopara. Unlike his fellow England mate in the side, Eoin Morgan, Bopara has been threatening batting form right through this tournament. In his first two outings with the bat, he gots starts but couldn’t go on to convert it into anything substantial, something he managed against DD in the last match with a 30-ball 41.

Kolkata     (bt DD)
What went right: First off, the fact that they played the Delhi Daredevils in Kotla, where the home side had lost their previous eight matches in a row. And once KKR captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and put Delhi in and Umesh Yadav responded with a fiery spell (eventually figures of 3-0-18-2), more than half the job was done. While Gambhir will be happy with his form (he hit a fifty against DD, his third in this tournament), the real positive for him and his side this season has been Yusuf Pathan’s smashing return to the big league. His 26-ball 40* at number six firmly shut the door on the opposition.

What went wrong: Sunil Narine. So far in IPL-8, the off-spinner who modified his action has taken all of two wickets. While he has been economical (6.81 runs/over), his lack of wickets will come to haunt KKR at some point, considering he was a key factor in delivering Gambhir’s side two titles in the last three seasons.

Conclusion
KKR seem to be the front-runners to record their fourth win this season. SRH, on the other hand, are far more desperate for a win than their opponents on Wednesday. With just a single win so far, a loss could signal early curtains for their ambitions of reaching the knock-out stage of this tournament.