SRH came into this season with high hopes, especially after their explosive batting displays led them to a runners-up finish in 2024. However, their firepower fizzled out in 2025. The batting failed to replicate last year’s heroics, and the bowling unit never truly hit its stride. As a result, the “sun” barely rose on their campaign.
Still, Hyderabad carry a bit of momentum into this clash, having crushed Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 42 runs in Lucknow — a win that dented RCB’s top-two hopes. Ishan Kishan and Eshan Malinga starred in that victory, and with SRH having more recent match practice than KKR — who last played on May 7 against CSK — that could make a difference.
The Arun Jaitley pitch is expected to be a batting paradise, which suits SRH’s power-hitters like Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, and Aniket Verma. If they fire, fans could witness a run-fest that leaves KKR chasing shadows.
KKR, meanwhile, have endured a season to forget. After winning their third title in 2024, they entered 2025 as defending champions but never lived up to that billing. A poor home record, inconsistent performances, and an unsettled batting order plagued their campaign. Controversy surrounding their home pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee didn’t help either.
Their batting lacked cohesion — frequent changes at the top, a misfiring middle order, and a fragile death-over strategy made it hard for the team to build momentum. The bowling has been average at best, offering little support to turn things around.
Still, KKR can take solace from their earlier win in Delhi and may look to end their forgettable campaign with a final flourish. A win here won’t change the table, but it could help restore some pride and give them something to build on for IPL 2026.
Squads
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Mohammed Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh, Kamindu Mendis, Atharva Taide, Wiaan Mulder, Rahul Chahar.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Manish Pandey, Quinton de Kock (wk), Anrich Nortje, Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Mayank Markande, Varun Chakravarthy, Spencer Johnson, Chetan Sakariya, Luvnith Sisodia, Vaibhav Arora, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harshit Rana, Shivam Shukla.
