With rain gods denting Rajasthan Royals' late bid for a top-two finish, Sunrisers Hyderabad have set a blockbuster date with table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League 2024 playoffs. While Pat Cummins and Co. will meet Shreyas Iyer's KKR in Qualifier 1, Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals are scheduled to take on Virat Kohli-starrer Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator of the IPL 2024 playoffs.
KKR and SRH will be on a collision course as Qualifier 1 promises to be a heavyweight clash between the two batting powerhouses. SRH have the best batting average while Iyer's KKR side has the joint-highest run rate in the IPL 2024. Talking about the mouthwatering clash between Hyderabad and Kolkata, former Chennai Super Kings superstar Ambati Rayudu opined that Qualifier 1 will be decided in the powerplay.
‘With Pat Cummins, SRH know…’
"I think it's the openers in the powerplay that comes to my mind for both teams. The match can be decided in the powerplay. Whoever plays that initial part well will have an advantage and also going into the playoffs, it's like a different tournament. It's not the same, because the league phase is different. But from now on teams will treat each match as a final, and KKR will be no different. For SRH, with Pat Cummins, they know Ahmedabad well, he's had great memories over there. So it will be an epic encounter," Rayudu told Star Sports.
Knight Riders without Salt
{{/usCountry}}"I think it's the openers in the powerplay that comes to my mind for both teams. The match can be decided in the powerplay. Whoever plays that initial part well will have an advantage and also going into the playoffs, it's like a different tournament. It's not the same, because the league phase is different. But from now on teams will treat each match as a final, and KKR will be no different. For SRH, with Pat Cummins, they know Ahmedabad well, he's had great memories over there. So it will be an epic encounter," Rayudu told Star Sports.
Knight Riders without Salt
{{/usCountry}}High-flying Kolkata Knight Riders will be without star batter Phil Salt as the England wicketkeeper has left the camp early for international duty. England will meet Pakistan in its final T20I assignment before the T20 World Cup. Salt and Sunil Narine masterminded several high-scoring totals for the Knight Riders this season. Salt smashed 435 runs for the two-time champions in the IPL 2024. KKR had upstaged SRH by four runs in a high-scoring game when both teams last met at the IPL 2024.