High-Flying Kolkata Knight Riders Face SunRisers Hyderabad, Eye Hat-Trick Of Wins

On a high after Rinku Singh's phenomenal knock, Kolkata Knight Riders will be gunning for a hat-trick of victories when they face a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League at Eden Gardens on Friday. Having started off their campaign with a reversal against Punjab Kings at Mohali, KKR found two unlikely heroes in two matches to get their campaign up and running. First, it was Shardul Thakur's storm with the bat that took a star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore by surprise as the pace bowling allrounder's 29-ball 68 led KKR to their first win of the season, a dominant 81-run victory.

Then the low-profile Rinku has become the flavour of the season after pulling off the greatest heist in T20 history by scoring 31 runs in the last over to win a match.

KKR defeated the reigning champions Gujarat Titans by three wickets in their den, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, courtesy Rinku's astonishing power-hitting.

The two-time former champions, who were hit hard by the absence of their skipper Shreyas Iyer and star allrounder Shakib-Al-Hasan and were written off by many following a low-key auction, suddenly have become the side to beat this season.

That the two wins have come without any significant contribution from their star power-hitter Andre Russell and skipper Nitish Rana, make them an even more dangerous side.

While Shardul and Rinku have undoubtedly provided the finishing options, KKR think-tank would be keen to prove that these two wins were not a fluke.

By his standard, Russell, the fearsome Jamaican power-hitter, has looked a shadow of his past, barring a 19-ball 35 in their rain-hit loss to Punjab Kings in their season opener.

With scores of 0 and 1 in the next two matches, Russell would be