IPL-8: KKR look to continue winning momentum against Sunrisers Hyderabad

KKR's Gautam Gambhir in full flow against DD on Monday. He has scored three 50s in four innings

Visakhapatnam: An in-form Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will face a struggling David Warner led-Sunrisers Hyderabad as the defending champions look for another stroll in the park here today.


KKR's Gautam Gambhir in full flow against DD on Monday. He has scored three 50s in four innings

Except for a hiccup against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, where the mighty Chris Gayle single-handedly beat KKR, their other three victories have been quite convincing to say the least.

On the other hand, the Sunrisers have struggled in almost all their matches so far, except the one against RCB where Warner and his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan hunted down a formidable score of 166. On Monday night, KKR sparkled in the field again as they restricted Delhi Daredevils to only 146-8 and then overhauled the target with six wickets, courtesy knocks from skipper Gautam Gambhir (60) and Yusuf Pathan (40 not out).

In their last outing, though owing to some lusty hitting from tail-enders, the Sunrisers almost made it home against the DD but pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled a brilliant last over to clinch the match for his side.

'Yusuf's a game-changer'
Gambhir has described Pathan as the biggest game-changer of the team and predicted that the all-rounder would come up with a special performance very soon in this edition of the IPL.

"I have always had a lot of faith in him (Pathan). Faith and trust is one thing that does not go very quickly. So I always feel he is the game-changer for us and the way he has batted in this tournament till now, I think he is just going to be our biggest game-changer.

"I know people talk about Sunil (Narine), people talk about other guys as well but I think Yusuf is someone who is going to do something special for us very soon," Gambhir said.