Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will play SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 15th Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match on Thursday, April 3, at Eden Gardens. The IPL 2025 finalists from last year, KKR and SRH, have yet to make an impression and will try to change that tonight.
Kolkata has only won once in its three tournament games thus far. With two points from their first three games and an NRR of -1.428, they are stuck at the bottom of the table. The reigning champions will try to recover after suffering a severe defeat at the hands of the Mumbai Indians in their most recent match.
However, SRH had a great start to the season, defeating the Rajasthan Royals by 44 runs after scoring 286. Since then, though, they have dropped two straight games and are currently in eighth place with two points from three games.
The final from last year will be rematched, and because both teams want to win and advance in the standings, it could be an exciting encounter. We’ll examine three of the intriguing matchups that this game will offer.
1. Sunil Narine vs Pat Cummins
With the bat, the West Indian all-rounder has had a mediocre start to the IPL 2025 season. Before being dismissed for a duck in the last game, he scored 44 runs in the loss against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Given his dismal record against their skipper, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine’s troubles could resume against SRH. Notably, in the game’s shortest version, Cummins has removed Narine twice in seven balls.
With the new ball, Narine will therefore need to be on the lookout for the SRH captain.
2. Mohammad Shami vs Quinton de Kock
The star Indian fast bowler will try to perform in the SRH colors when he returns to Eden Gardens, where he has played all of his domestic cricket. Quinton de Kock and Mohammad Shami’s powerplay clash could be exciting since the Eden wicket offers considerable bounce and swing.
With just two wickets in three games thus far in the IPL 2025, Shami has had a lackluster campaign. He will be hoping to improve against KKR. He might cause problems for the KKR openers, especially de Kock, with his ability to swing the ball both ways.
In T20 cricket, the right-arm bowler has given up 54 runs and removed de Kock three times in 36 balls.
3. Travis Head vs Sunil Narine
Australian opening batsman Travis Head demonstrates outstanding performance in the IPL 2025 season with his impressive start to the tournament. So far in three matches the left-handed batter has scored 136 runs at a strike rate above 190.
The past performance of Head versus Narine makes Ajinkya Rahane as KKR captain potentially want to bring the mystery spinner into the powerplay. The South African player scored exactly 15 runs from 12 bowls against Narine while playing T20 matches. The early application of pressure by KKR against Head might force him to make a mistake.
