Chennai, Apr 10 (UNI) In a contest between two former champions, Eoin Morgan led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) square off with David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad, in what promises to be high octane battle at the chepauk stadium in IPL T-20 match here tomorrow. On paper, both the teams were evenly balanced and handling the big moments in these contest will be the key to success.
Once again, the nature pitch, which appeared on the slow side in the opening contest which RCB won off the last ball against defending champions Mumbai Indians, will be the focus. The team winning the toss will straightaway chose to field as chasing is the better option in such conditions. Shubman Gill and pinch hitter Sunil Narine is expected to the open the innings and the middle order is packed with the like of Eoin Morgan , Karun Nair, Gurkeerat Mann, Nitish Raha and Rahul Tripathi, besdies former skipper Dinesh karthik and the power hitter Andre Russel. KKR too has a potent bowling attack in Pat Cummins and Ferguson and Sandeep Warrier, and is bolstered by the inclusion of offie Harbhajan Singh, who played for CSK last season, and the experience of left arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan.
Sunrisers too is packed woth big hitter with Warner at the top along with Manish Pandey, followed by Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, and Kedar Jadhav. It also possess an experienced bowling attack that was led by Bhuvaneswar Kumar, who excelled in the recent England series, yorker sensation T Natarajan, whose exploits during the tour Down Under came in for all round praise, besides Jason holder, Khaleel Ahmed Siddarth Kaul and Basil Thampi. Spinner Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi and wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav leads the spin attack and what type of combination Warner will opt–whether he will go with three pacers and two spinners–holds the key. On the whole, an exciting contest is on the cards. Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders : Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Pawan Negi, Tim Seifert, Shakib al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer.
Sunrisers Hyderabad : Kane Williamson, David Warner, Manish Pandey, Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, T Natarajan, Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Basil Thampi, Jason Holder, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kedar Yadav, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Jason Roy