Sunrisers Hyderabad plays the perfect game. That's why their wins in the league phase were so remarkable.
To defend small totals, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to outsmart the enemy. Siddharth Kaul had to frustrate them. And Rashid Khan had to deliver the knockout punch. The legspinner's lucky his googly has top-secret status. Batsmen under the age of 90 can't read it.
And to chase 'em down, they needed Kane Williamson to understand that his mastery of defence has other uses as well. Like, when he extends his arms, while taking his usual care to pick the gaps, he can hit boundaries at will.
Elevating their individual skills to insane levels, and combining them seamlessly, is how Sunrisers made the playoffs. But, like any gamer worth his salt would tell you, boss mode doesn't last forever. You need contingencies.
And that's where Kolkata Knight Riders have been brilliant this season because if Lynn doesn't hit you, Narine will. If Karthik doesn't smash you, Russell will. If Narine doesn't make you question why you ever picked up a bat, Kuldeep will. This from the team that came out of the IPL auction with the smallest squad. Friday's going to be fun.
In the news
Sunrisers have lost four matches on the bounce - their longest losing streak in the IPL - soon after winning six on the trot - their longest winning streak.
KKR have won their last four matches and are relishing playing at home, something which wouldn't have happened according to the original IPL schedule, which had the playoffs in Pune.
Wriddhiman Saha, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury, was seen going through rigorous practice in Mumbai. Nevertheless, it was Shreevats Goswami who took the gloves for Sunrisers in the first qualifier and he may well do so again.
Likely XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Dinesh Karthik (capt & wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Shubman Gill, 8 Javon Searles, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Prasidh Krishna
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Shreevats Goswami (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Siddarth Kaul, 11 Sandeep Sharma.
espncricinfo