Indian T20 League 2022: Match 61- Kolkata vs Hyderabad- Preview, Playing XI, Pitch Report & Updates

With only three spots left in the playoffs, the qualification battle is getting intense with every passing match. In the 61st match of the Indian T20 League 2022, Kolkata will take on Hyderabad at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. In their first encounter of the season, Hyderabad dominated the game and won by seven wickets. The men in purple currently stand seventh on the points table with five wins in 12 games. Hyderabad has equal wins in 11 games. They presently stand sixth on the points table.

Team Updates

Kolkata

Pat Cummins, Kolkata's star player, has been ruled out of the tournament due to a hip injury, which is a big setback for the team. The two-time champions are coming off a 52-run victory over Mumbai in their last game. The Shreyas Iyer-led side still have a chance to make it to the playoffs, but they will have to replicate the performance of their last game. They will look forward to bringing their A-game against Hyderabad.

The two-time champions will have to make one forced change and one other change in order to get the right balance. Injured Pat Cummins and Varun Chakravarthy will make way for Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Nabi.

Players to watch out for

Nitish Rana- Nitish Rana has given a few great performances this season and has looked in good touch. He has scored 293 runs in 12 games for the team this season. Thus, he will look forward to getting more such performances and winning the matches for the team.

Sunil Narine- Sunil Narine hasn't taken too many wickets this season, but he has put the batters under a lot of pressure. In 12 games this season, he has eight wickets at a 5.22 economy rate. The team's management will expect him to take more wickets in the remaining games.

Probable Playing XI

Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Mohammad Nabi, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav

Hyderabad

The orange army were superb in the first half of the tournament. However, they have not been at their best in their last few games. They are currently on a four-match losing streak. Hyderabad are also in the contention to make it to the playoffs. They have an advantage over some of the other teams in the competition since they have more matches remaining. However, they will have to ensure that they win all of them to stand a chance in the final four.

Their batting has been excellent this season, but the bowlers must improve. In the next match, T Natarajan could return to the team from his injury in place of  Fazalhaq Farooqi. They would not want to tamper with their strong batting lineup.

Players to watch out for

Aiden Markram- Aiden Markram has been one of the most consistent players for the 2016-champions. He has scored 326 runs in nine innings for the team at an average of 65.2. He would want to keep scoring runs at a quick rate for the team.

Nicholas Pooran- Nicholas Pooran has played the role of finisher to perfection. He has scored 261 runs in 10 innings at an average of 52.2. This season, his strike rate of 147.45 has also been quite good.

Probable Playing XI

Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (c), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shashank Singh, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik

Head to Head

Pitch Report

The pitch at the MCA Stadium in Pune has slowed down to an extent. The spinners will come into play in this match, and the batters will have to take their time to get settled. The team winning the toss would want to bowl first over here.

Match Details

Date- 14th May 2022

Time- 7:30 p.m (IST)

Venue- Maharashtra Cricket Stadium, Pune

Broadcast- Star Sports Network, Disney+ Hotstar