KKR and SRH both searching for first win as IPL 2026 heads to Eden Gardens
Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad meet at Eden Gardens on Thursday evening in a game neither team can afford to lose. Both sides put up 200-plus totals in their first matches of the season and still ended up on the wrong side of the result.
KKR scored 220 and still lost
KKR posted 220 for 4 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on March 29, with captain Ajinkya Rahane making 67 off 40 balls and young Angkrish Raghuvanshi hitting 51 off 29. On most nights, 220 is more than enough. Not this time. Rohit Sharma (78 off 38) and Ryan Rickelton (81 off 43) put on 148 for the opening stand and Mumbai chased it down with five balls to spare.
The bigger worry for KKR is their bowling. Varun Chakravarthy, India's highest-rated T20I bowler, went for 48 off his four overs without taking a wicket. Former India captain Kris Srikkanth called it the day his "mystery became history." Sunil Narine picked up a wicket but went at nearly 10 an over. The pace attack is in trouble too, with Harshit Rana ruled out for the season and Akash Deep also unavailable. Cameron Green can only bat due to workload restrictions, and Matheesha Pathirana is not expected back until mid-April.
SRH had the same problem
SRH's opener told a similar story. Interim captain Ishan Kishan blazed 80 off 38 balls in the tournament opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 28, with Aniket Verma chipping in 43 to push the total to 201 for 9. But RCB's Virat Kohli (69 not out off 38) and Devdutt Padikkal (61 off 26) ripped the chase apart, getting home in just 15.4 overs with six wickets in hand. Jacob Duffy's 3 for 22 with the new ball had given RCB early control and SRH never recovered.
Kishan aside, Pat Cummins' absence looms large. The regular captain is still recovering from a back injury and his return date remains unclear. SRH's bowling options, led by Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat, look thin against batting-heavy Eden Gardens conditions.
Eden Gardens favours the chase
The pitch at Eden Gardens is a batting surface with good pace and consistent bounce. Dew tends to play a role in night games, making chasing the preferred option. The short boundaries reward clean hitting on both sides, and the average first-innings score here sits around 171. If either side wins the toss, expect them to field.
The head-to-head says KKR
KKR lead SRH 20-10 across 30 IPL meetings, and their home record at Eden Gardens is even more lopsided. KKR have won eight of 11 games against SRH in Kolkata.
Both teams need their bowlers to show up. KKR and SRH can both pile on runs. The question tonight is whether either side can take enough wickets to defend them. After what happened in both their openers, expect two sides throwing everything at attacking first and worrying about the bowling later.
Related Tags:
Cricket Updates
