IPL 2022, KKR vs SRH Fantasy Prediction: Tips, Playing XI, and more as Kolkata fights to survive

On Saturday, Kolkata Knight Riders will be up against SunRisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022. As KKR struggles for playoffs race survival, we predict the best Fantasy XI, besides the probable XI and more.

Image credit: BCCI

Match 61 of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) will happen between former champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). It takes place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday. The game will be of utmost importance for KKR, as it is a do-or-die clash for the side. While a win keeps it in contention for the playoffs, a defeat will knock it out of the race. On the other hand, a loss for SRH would also virtually rule it out of the same. In the same light, we predict the best fantasy XI, along with probable XI and other match details.

Batters - Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma
Abhishek and Tripathi will be great as openers here, thanks to their consistent form, while Iyer will dominate at number three as usual. In contrast, Rana will be explosive in the middle.

Wicketkeepers - Sheldon Jackson and Nicholas Pooran
Both men have delivered with the bat when the team needs them the most, whereas Pooran has often displayed his aggressive batting, which will be extremely handy in this tie.

All-rounders - Andre Russell (c) and Aiden Markram
Russell is a no-brainer here for his consistency across formats, making him the undisputed skipper, while Markram will be both composed and hard-hitting with the bat in the middle.

Bowlers - Umesh Yadav (vc), T Natarajan, Umran Malik
In an all-round pace attack, Umesh has been the most regular one in taking wickets, making him Russell's much-needed deputy. In contrast, Natarajan and Malik have been lethal with their pace, especially the latter, who has terrorised the batters with deliveries at a speed of above 150 km/h.

Probable XI
KKR: Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh/Sheldon Jackson, Chamika Karunaratne, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee and Varun Chakravarthy.
SRH: Kane Williamson (c), Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, J Suchith, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik and T Natarajan.

Match details
Date and day: May 14, 2022 (Saturday)
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Time: 7.30 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 Hindi (also available in HD and other regional languages)
Where to watch (Online): Hotstar
Prediction: KKR wins with a superior team