IPL 2022 KKR vs SRH Preview - Dawn needs to break now for Sunrisers

Key match stats KKR vs SRH

Pitch Stats – Maharashtra Stadium

Average first innings score: 171
Average first innings winning score: 175
Average powerplay score: 43
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 75% / 25%

Team form KKR vs SRH

KKR – WLWLL
SRH – LLLLW
Recent meetings: SRH won by 7 wickets

KKR vs SRH Preview

As we come into the final stretch of games in IPL 2022 both these sides might look back on what could have been.

KKR started the season in fine form with their bowlers dominating and a couple of their power hitters in the lower order winning them games from nowhere. However, weaknesses in the top order have ultimately cost them the necessary runs to maintain that challenge culminating in a horror run of 5 straight defeats that ended any hopes of repeating or even bettering last year's appearance in the final.

Of course Sunrisers are suffering a similar season defining losing streak of their own with 4 on the trot taking them from the top of the league to their current position in 7th.

RCB's defeat to PBKS last night does mean that in theory both these sides can still qualify although for KKR who have played a game more than SRH, the chances remain very slim while in reality SRH need to win 3 from 3.

SRH's problem in recent games has been the sheer number of runs they've leaked. No doubt that they have some of the most exciting young pace bowling talents in the IPL with Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi and Marco Jansen on their books but with their raw pace and ability has also come inconsistency and without the Bhuvi/Natarajhan axis for them to rely on at either end of the innings then Kane Williamson has looked short of options.

As the pitches begin to wear and favour slower bowling, it's also that lack of a genuine front line spinner that is beginning to show for Sunrisers who have taken fewer wickets with spin than any other side in IPL 2022.

Team	Wickets taken by spinners
RR	33
RCB	28
CSK	26
DC	26
LSG	24
MI	18
GT	17
PBKS	15
KKR	14
SRH	12

total wickets taken by spinners on each side during IPL 2022

Of course the fact that KKR, a side so reliant on their slow bowlers for success last year (38 wickets for KKR spinners in IPL 2021) have struggled too is a key reason for their imminent exit from this year's tournament.

That being said, pace bowling at the Maharasthra has dominated proceedings so it may yet prove a good opportunity for both side's attacks to do some damage despite the lack of penetration from the spinners.

Venue	Strike rate for pace bowlers	Average for pace bowlers
Maharashtra	18.6	24.6
DY Patil	18.8	25.3
Wankhede	21.3	29.4
Brabourne	22.9	33.6

Of all the venues, the pitch in Pune has seen pace bowlers deliver the best stats

Pune is very much still the place to bat first with the last 6 games won by the side batting first and an overall win % of 75 for those setting a total.

In fact only sides that have fallen below the average first innings score here of 170 have lost so the task for both KKR and SRH seems pretty simple - win the toss and make 170+ batting first...

KKR vs SRH head to head

SRH bowling vs KKR batting

Making fast starts in the powerplay hasn't been the premise of either side featuring in this match as the graph below shows but for KKR the issue is even worse in the fact that they lose on average 2 wickets during the first 6 overs and regularly find themselves needing to play catch-up later on in the innings.

run rate in the powerplay by side in IPL 2022

There were however some signs of hope for KKR at the top of the order as Venkatesh Iyer and Rahane combined to put on a partnership of 60 with the former looking the most fluent he has been all season and returning to a ground where he has scored his only half century of IPL 2022 to date.

Rahane meanwhile will be charged with resisting the new ball threat of his old international colleague Bhuvi, a task that he has found difficult on previous encounters.

Bhuvi vs Rahane T20 head to head

Thereafter, we are left with the battle between Sunrisers' young pace bowlers and the KKR middle order. We've seen in recent games Shreyas Iyer get roughed up by the LSG pace attack on this very pitch while in their last match Jasprit Bumrah did Andre Russell with a 2 card trick (yorker, bouncer) so expect some more of the same from SRH today.

KKR bowling vs SRH batting

While the chart above shows that Sunil Narine has struggled to take wickets this season (he has just 8 from 12 matches) he still remains very difficult to score from.

In fact, of bowlers who have bowled more than 20 overs in IPL 2022, Narine and Mohsin Khan are the only 2 to have maintained an economy of under a run a ball!

Narine vs Tripathi T20 head to head

However, this match sees Narine come up against one of the few batsmen in the IPL who has historically managed to score runs of him without losing his wicket in the form of Rahul Tripathi.

KKR will be waiting on the fitness of their leading wicket taker Umesh Yadav in this match after the pace bowler missed the the last 2 matches for his franchise. With Yadav out, Andre Russell has stepped up as a potent wicket taker for the side and is currently striking on average with every 9th ball he bowls, the best strike rate of any bowler in IPL 2022 to have bowled 20 or more overs.

Russell vs Pooran T20 head to head

His battle against international colleague Nicolas Pooran could yet prove crucial to the outcome of this match with both men in good form at the moment.

All stats used in this blog are from my own database which is freely accessible at T20 head to head. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images which are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free