The way Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) started this tournament, one thought, it was going to be a reprise of last year's explosive showing. SRH looted 286 in its first encounter against Rajasthan Royals (RR). But in the subsequent matches, its batters couldn't get going and it lost tamely to LSG and DC by 5 and 7 wickets respectively.

Last year's champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) too have fared no better.  It has lost to (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) RCB and Mumbai Indians (MI). Its only win in this edition has come, like in the case of SRH, against RR.

KKR is currently 10th in the table while SRH is at 8th. So both teams are desperate for a win to climb out of the bottom half of the points table. For KKR, this match is an opportunity to turn their season around at its home in Eden Gardens. SRH, on the other hand, will aim to capitalise on its batting firepower and avenge its losses from last season.

KKR and SRH are suffering from the same problem: inconsistency in batting. But SRH batters unleashed their firepower in at least one match, KKR's top-order has been patchy and uninspiring. Ajinkya Rahane, its skipper, has scored 85 runs this season and looks to be the key to stabilise its fragile batting order. Quinton de Kock, who powered it to a win against RR, is also a vital cog at the top.

Its old warhorses Sunil Narine and Andre Russel have failed to explode in any of the matches. Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh too have flunked. Only Angkrish Raghuvanshi has shown some glimpses of his talent. Varun Chakravarthy, the mystery spinner, has taken 3 wickets at an economy rate of 6.54 and could be crucial on the Eden Gardens pitch today.

For SRH, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishen, Aniket Verma have had at least one good innings. But as a team they have failed to fire in unison. 

From what we hear, on the Eden Gardens pitch tonight, spinners might come into play in the latter half of the innings. Dew could play a role in the second innings, making chasing a preferable option.

Probable teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (capt), Wiaan Mulder/Adam Zampa, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Simarjeet Singh/Zeeshan Ansari