Saturday Knight fever

Hyderabad: The game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders here on Saturday night is quite a mismatch. One has nothing to lose, the other has everything to play for.

That both sides play their last league match makes it interesting though. The hosts are sitting pretty at the top and have already qualified for the coveted playoffs. Kolkata occupy the third spot but with a negative run-rate and four teams just two points behind, simply cannot afford a loss that could leave the door open.

They have the momentum alright. The Knights go into the match on the back of consecutive, comfortable, victories home and away — a six-wicket slamming of Rajasthan Royals at Eden and a 31-run thrashing of Kings XI Punjab in Indore.

It’s the opposite for the hosts, who went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings in their last two games. With the playoffs so close, they’d be keen to get the momentum back.

That they almost pulled off a 200-plus chase against Virat Kohli’s Bangalore on Thursday night should comfort the Sunrisers, whose captain Kane Williamson is literally batting in a different zone. Also, Manish Pandey coming into the thick of things with an unbeaten 62 against RCB augurs well for the hosts.

However, there could be bowling worries at the back of the mind, having conceded a 200+ score for the first time and letting Chennai chase down almost that much with eight wickets in hand. Sunrisers would hope the tournament’s best bowling attack has not been sorted out just when it matters most, and yearn to get their mojo back.

On the other hand, the Purple band would be keen to fine tune their act and maintain rhythm to provide some music to the Kolkatans’ ears. Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Andre Russell and captain Dinesh Karthik will be in charge of producing the big hits.

As a side show, the match should also throw up an absorbing contest between celebrated spinners in rival camps — Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav for the visitors, Rashid Khan and Shakib Al Hasan for the hosts.

The Sunrisers would also do well to try out local talent in the inconsequential affair, at least to make a statement that ‘Hyderabad’ in the team name is not superfluous.