Match overview
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 4 runs at Eden Gardens on 23 March 2024 in the IPL. KKR batted first and posted 208/7, with a brutal death-overs phase of 85 runs from their final phase swinging the total well above par. SRH's chase started in explosive fashion, reaching 65/1 after the powerplay, but the asking rate climbed too steeply in the middle overs. SRH finished on 204/7, four runs short. AD Russell was named Player of the Match for his contribution to KKR's total. The result maintained Kolkata's strong head-to-head record against Sunrisers, who have now lost 19 of their 31 IPL meetings with KKR.
Sunrisers won the toss and chose to field, a reasonable call at a ground where 58 per cent of toss winners opt to field. KKR's middle overs produced 80 runs for three wickets, keeping them in range of a big total, before Russell and company cut loose at the back end. The 85-run death-overs contribution was nearly double the ground's average of 38 for that phase.
Venue and conditions
Eden Gardens is one of the largest cricket venues in the world and one of the most storied in Indian cricket. Across 171 T20 matches played there, the average first-innings score is 186 and the average second-innings score is 170. KKR's 208/7 was comfortably above the ground's typical first-innings benchmark. The chase success rate across all T20 matches at the ground sits at 53 per cent, meaning neither side has a structural advantage when it comes to batting order.
The powerplay average of 44 runs makes SRH's 65-run opening phase stand out sharply. Teams that score well above the powerplay norm often find the middle overs harder to navigate as the required rate climbs, which is broadly what happened here: SRH took 63 runs from the middle phase but lost three wickets in the process. The death overs then required 76 runs from SRH at a stage where wickets were running low, proving one too many.
How to watch
IPL matches are available in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket, which carries live coverage of the tournament. Subscribers can stream via Sky Go on mobile and tablet devices, or through a NOW TV day or month pass for those without a full Sky subscription. Start times vary depending on the Indian match schedule, but most IPL fixtures begin at 19:30 IST, which translates to approximately 14:00 BST during the UK summer months. Check the Sky Sports schedule for the exact UK broadcast time for each fixture.
Recent form
Kolkata Knight Riders came into this fixture off the back of mixed 2023 form, with three wins and two losses in their most recent five games. Their wins included a victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2023, which added to the sense that KKR tended to raise their game against this particular opponent. Sunrisers Hyderabad's recent record coming into this match was considerably less encouraging: four losses from their last five games in 2023, with their only win coming against Rajasthan Royals. That run of results placed SRH under pressure heading into this fixture, and while their powerplay performance in the chase suggested they could compete at a high level, they could not sustain it for 20 overs. The next logical step in this rivalry comes in subsequent IPL meetings, where SRH will be looking to address a head-to-head deficit that now stands at 19 wins to 11 in KKR's favour.
