Hyderabad:
The seemingly invincible Kolkata Knight Riders will start outright favourites when they square off against Australia’s Hobart Hurricanes in the semifinals of the Oppo Champions League T20 here.
Kolkata Knight Riders are on a roll having remained unbeaten in the CLT20 and registering 13 wins in a row since the IPL T20 tournament this year.
The batting department of KKR, comprising captain Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Jacques Kallis, Ryan ten Doeschate and Andre Russel has been in great form.
In the bowling department, however, there has been some turmoil after ‘mystery spinner’ Sunil Narine was reported for suspect action in their last group match.
However, the young Kuldeep Yadav, all-rounders such as Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate and Andre Russel have been quite successful.
KKR’s star batsman Uthappa has said his team would like to focus on its strengths in the semi-finals against Hobert Hurricanes.
The Kolkata side has played all its matches in the Group stage in Hyderabad and it is expected to have the advantage of familiarity. KKR’s coach Wasim Akram had recently remarked that Hyderabad has become a home away from home for the team.
Hobart Hurricanes, on the other hand, have set an impressive record in the tournament having won three of the four matches it played.
