On Thursday, April 2, at match 6 of the current IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will play SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). The match will start at 7.30 pm IST at Eden Gardens.
Both sides are yet to get off the mark on the points table. Kolkata lost to Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets in their first match. They were unable to protect a 221-run target during the away game. Their team led by Ajinkya Rahane is now ranked number seven in the table with net run rate of -0.687.
Hyderabad however, were defeated by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on the road and RCB pursued the 202-run target within 15.4 overs. Ishan Kishan and Co. have a rotten net run rate of -2.907 and they are languishing in the 9 th position in the standings.
KKR have the upper hand over SRH in the head-to-head record with a lead of 20-10. It is worth mentioning that Kolkata have won eight out of 11 matches against Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens. It promises to be a tight match as both the teams seek to get their maiden win of the season.
We will now consider three interesting matches to look forward to in the KKR vs SRH match.
3. Sunil Narine (KKR) vs Abhishek Sharma (SRH).
Spinner Sunil Narine is a veteran who has been very successful in Eden Gardens. He has the most scalps of 72 at the venue in T20 cricket. It is possible that Skipper Ajinkya Rahane is tempted to deploy the 37-year old early against opener Abhishek Sharma.
This was actually demonstrated during the 2026 T20 World Cup when the left-handed batter was obviously losing against off-spin; he was dismissed three times out of six innings, and scored only 26 points out of 24 balls. At that, Narine has been dominated by Abhishek in the past. The swashbuckling batter has smacked 54 runs out of 25 balls at 204 strike rate and has fallen only once to the mystery spinner.
2. Ajinkya Rahane (KKR) vs Jaydev Unadkat (SRH)
Ajinkya Rahane recorded a good half-century against MI. The veteran in the game ran 67 off 40 balls and appeared in very good form. But this time he will be against Jaydev Unadkat who has been in his path on several occasions.
Four times in six innings, the left-arm pacer has dismissed Rahane. The Kolkata captain has controlled 35 runs on 34 balls with a poor strike rate of 102.94 against the Saurashtra bowler.
3. Rinku Singh (KKR) vs. Harshal Patel (SRH)
KKR will be depending on Rinku Singh in providing fireworks towards the end of the innings. He was instrumental in playing an unbeaten 33-run off 21 balls against MI on the first match of the team.
His competition with SRH pacer Harshal Patel should be a thrilling one. Harshal has demonstrated himself a death-over expert over the years and will support his variations to deal with the power-hitting of Rinku.
The batter has lost his wicket to Harshal twice in four innings but has also hit 47 runs off 26 balls at a strike rate of 180.76.
