Matthew Hayden (former Australian opener) strongly believes that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be defeating the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the finals to register their third IPL championship title at Chepauk on May 26.
Matthew Hayden has played for the Chennai-based franchise and he understands the Chepauk surface very well. He opined that the partnership of the spin-duo, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy will be the key difference for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to register their 3rd IPL win.
The spin quality of Sunil Narine & Varun Chakaravarthy is going to make a difference- Matthew Hayden
While having a conversation with Star Sports about the upcoming T20 World Cup, this is what Hayden mentioned:
“I’m very confident that KKR are going to win here, as having a few days off, having the ability to watch this match, and understanding what the strengths and weaknesses of Sunrisers Hyderabad are will be helpful. KKR, having defeated SRH, is going to have great momentum. I also just feel that the quality spin of Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy on the red clay is going to make a difference.”
The Kolkata Knight Riders have some remarkable memories at the Chepauk. They defeated the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2012 edition to get their maiden title.
Kevin Pietersen on KKR having already beaten SRH
Former England’s batter, Kevin Pietersen also attended the discussion and recalled the moment when KKR beat SRH in Qualifier 1 in 2016. Pietersen expressed his disappointment on the Sunrisers as they let Travis Head take charge of bowling too early which resulted in their loss as Shreyas Iyer had smashed Travis from all way around.
Pietersen went on to say that:
“The way they just finished the game off, Pat Cummins gave Travis Head the ball, and Shreyas Iyer just went bang, bang, bang. It’ll give KKR a lot of confidence going into the finals knowing that they’ve already beaten SRH a couple of days ago. So it’s going to be really hard for the Sunrisers to get up.”
At the same time, Pietersen went ahead to say that the Hyderabad franchise has got the hang of success with back-to-back SA20 titles. He remarks that winning mentally might push them to unleash their potential for the finale.
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