17:50 local, 12:20 GMT:

Preview by Vijay Tagore

Ahmedabad has been burning and boiling, with the mercury soaring above 45 degrees celsius lately, but amusingly enough, that may not be all bad news. With a slew of recent Indian Premier League matches affected by rain, the current trend of scorching heat is unlikely to be unwelcomed by those associated with the IPL. Ironically, it may offer a refreshing relief to the two remaining teams at the venue.

The weather forecast for both Tuesday and Wednesday, when Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator will be played, is for more of the same sweltering heat, ensuring the matches proceed without interruption. According to the local Meteorological Department, the weather will be 'hot with plenty of sun' - a massive understatement of the season. The heat has been both infernal and searing. But just try asking the Kolkata Knight Riders, who experienced two consecutive washouts, including one at the Narendra Modi Stadium on May 13. They may not mind the heat.

Heading into a crucial fixture, the Knight Riders, two-time champions who finished at the top of the points table for the first time in 17 seasons, are short on match practice, having last played a full 40-over game on May 5. This could be a concern for Shreyas Iyer's side, who have engineered and pioneered a new approach to the IPL, almost similar to the style of their opponents, Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Qualifier 1. Both teams have redefined the game with a high-risk, no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners attitude.

Thus, it will be a clash of two bold, fearless, in-form teams with a slight edge tilted towards the Hyderabad side, who are also looking for their third IPL championship. Kolkata have their season's regular opener, Phil Salt, who combined well with other opener Sunil Narine, missing since the Englishman has left for home for national duties. Narine may partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the game. The Afghan is yet to hit a ball in a game this season.

On the other hand, SRH's go-for-broke opening combination of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma is very much intact. Strange things have certainly happened in cricket, particularly in the IPL, but the success or failure of the opening combinations of the sides could determine the result of the game.

Then there is this bowling factor that gives Pat Cummins's side some advantage. The Hyderabad team has largely depended on its pacers - T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Cummins himself with Jaydev Unadkat and Marco Jansen to fall back on - and the Narendra Modi Stadium has mostly aided the pacers. The Knight Riders' arsenal has been their spinners, chiefly Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy.

A big plus for Hyderabad has been that Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who opens the attack, had been off colour initially but has found his mojo in the second half of the league while the Knight Riders have not exactly had their spearhead, Mitchell Starc, firing on all cylinders. Kolkata will need Starc (12 wickets in 11 innings), the costliest buy in the IPL history, to come to the party. If that's not enough, KKR need to be wary of the happy memories that Cummins and Head have at this venue - of winning the ODI World Cup last year.

But the only issue that may not work for SRH is the neutrality in the stands. Cummins had famously said before the World Cup final last year that nothing is more satisfying than silencing 1.3 lakh people. There may be as many people on Tuesday night as well, but they may not support the opposition as fervently as they did on November 19, 2023.

When: Kolkata Knight Riders vs SunRisers Hyderabad, IPL 2024, May 21, 19:30 IST

Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

What to expect: It is not a do-or- die game but neither team wants to be in that situation as a defeat will put them there. With the pitch expected to assist the batters, it will be a high-scoring game with the captain winning the toss choosing to field, as most captains have done this season.

Head to Head: KKR 17 - 9 SRH. The Knight Riders have been even more dominating since 2020, having won seven of their nine face-offs. The playoffs records of the two sides are almost similar, with KKR winning eight and losing five while SRH have won 5 and lost six.

Team Watch:

Kolkata Knight Riders

Injuries/Availability: All players, barring Phil Salt, are available.

Tactics and Match-Ups: Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are among the rare few batters who have enjoyed an upperhand in the battle against Sunil Narine. The veteran spinner could be held back to be utilised in the middle and late overs in a bid to control Heinrich Klassen, who enjoys a favourable matchup against the other KKR spinner - Varun Chakravarthy.

Andre Russell has dismissed Abhishek twice in 10 balls, and conceded only 11 runs. Don't be surprised if the West Indian has an early go against the in-form southpaw

Probable XII: Rahamanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh , Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy [Impact substitute: Vaibhav Arora]

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Injuries/Availability: They have a clean slate on this front

Tactics and Match-Ups: Andre Russell hasn't enjoyed a high-scoring rate in Ahmedabad, striking at just under 140 in four innings at the venue. SRH bowlers will look to force him to hit towards the long square boundaries

Probable XII: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Reddy, Rahul Tripathi, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Sanvir Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth [Impact substitute: T Natarajan]

Did you know:

- Sunil Narine is yet to score a run in an IPL game in Ahmedabad, having been dismissed thrice on ducks previously

- In the four IPL matches Andre Russell has played in Ahmedabad, he hasn't picked up a wicket

- Bhuvneshwar Kumar has snapped nine wickets in three games in Ahmedabad, and conceded at less than run-a-ball

Squads:

Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad, Sanvir Singh, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Anmolpreet Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Markande, Jhatavedh Subramanyan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Manish Pandey, Nitish Rana, Srikar Bharat, Sherfane Rutherford, Dushmantha Chameera, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sakib Hussain, Suyash Sharma, Allah Ghazanfar, Chetan Sakariya