Indian T20 League: Match 25 - Hyderabad vs Kolkata- Preview, Playing XIs, Pitch Report, Streaming Details & Updates

The 25th match of the Indian T20 League will be played between Hyderabad and Kolkata. The match is set to be staged at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on the 15th of April. Kolkata stands second in the points table with three wins in five games. Hyderabad, on the other hand, has played four games, winning two and losing as many. They stand eighth in the points table. Kolkata lost their last match against Delhi, and they would look to get back to winning ways. Hyderabad, on the other hand, has won their last two games and will be high on confidence.

Team Updates

Hyderabad

After losing their first two games, Hyderabad bounced back and won their next two games. They worked on their flaws and got better results. Their opening pair did not look the best in the first two games but Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson stitched good partnerships in both the previous games, which helped them chase the targets. The orange army's middle order has looked decent as well. Rahul Tripathi and Nicholas Pooran are doing a great job for them.

Rahul Tripathi and Washington Sundar suffered injuries in the last game. While Sundar has been confirmed to miss out a few matches, Tripathi's participation is doubtful. Hyderabad will be forced to make at least one change in the playing XI.

Players to watch out for

Kane Williamson- Kane Williamson has been the anchor for Hyderabad in the last two games. He has complimented Abhishek Sharma brilliantly. Sharma has been more aggressive of the two batters while Kane has held up one end.  He has scored 107 runs so far, including a half-century. However, his strike rate is just 98 this season. He will have to work on it and try to score runs at a slightly better rate.

T Natarajan- T Natarajan has been a great player for the Hyderabad team this season. He has continued his consistency from the previous seasons and has bagged eight wickets so far. He would like to work on his economy (8.31)  a bit in the upcoming games, while maintaining his strike rate.

Probable Playing XI

Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (c), Rahul Tripathi, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Aiden Markram, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, T Natarajan

Kolkata

Kolkata, under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, has looked like a team that will be hard to beat on their day. They have shown the right intent and used their resources well. However, there are some issues that they will have to address in the next match. Their batting has not been at its best, including the skipper Shreyas Iyer. Ajinkya Rahane too has not been effective at the top of the order.

Kolkata will have to make some changes in their batting order to have better results. Aaron Finch can bat at the top of the order instead of Rahane and Sheldon Jackson can replace Sam Billings as the wicketkeeper-batter in the game. The bowling, on the other hand, has been on point.

Players to watch out for

Umesh Yadav- After not playing many games in the previous seasons, Umesh Yadav has got off to a great start this season. He has been lethal with the new ball, giving Kolkata early breakthroughs and setting up a good platform for the likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.

Andre Russell- Star West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell has been in decent form this season. He has played his part as the finisher and has scored 130 runs at a strike rate of 173. Russell on his day is an absolute match winner.

Probable Playing XI

Aaron Finch, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Sheldon Jackson (wk), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Umesh Yadav, Rasikh Salam, Varun Chakravarthy

Head to Head

Pitch Report

The wicket at the Brabourne Stadium has been a decent surface for batting. There has been some bounce and swing for the fast bowlers, but the batters have had an upper hand. A high scoring game can be expected between Hyderabad and Kolkata. The team winning the toss would want to bowl first given the dew.

Match Details

Date- 15th April 2022

Time- 7:30 p.m (IST)

Venue- Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Broadcast- Star Sports Network, Disney+ Hotstar