Top player battles to watch out for in the KKR vs SRH IPL 2025 match

In the 15th encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season, the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be locking horns with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on 3 April, 2025 scheduled to take place at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Both these teams will be low on confidence as they are coming into this match after suffering poor losses in their respective previous outings this season. Kolkata Knight Riders are coming off from a disappointing defeat suffered at the hands of Mumbai Indians (MI) while Sunrisers Hyderabad ended up losing their last match against Delhi Capitals. Therefore, it will be really important for both these sides to make a winning comeback in the middle-phase of the competition. 

KKR vs SRH IPL head to head battle

It has not been the best of starts for defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders so far in this 18th edition of the Indian Premier League as they ended up losing the tournament opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The Ajinkya Rahane-led KKR team made a fine comeback by defeating Rajasthan Royals in their second game but then suffered a humiliating loss against Mumbai Indians. On the other hand, after winning their first match by a convincing margin, Sunrisers Hyderabad have conceded back-to-back defeats against Lucknow Super Giants. 

While talking about the KKR vs SRH IPL head to head record, the Kolkata Knight Riders have dominated the proceedings to a great extent. Out of the 28 games played between these two teams, the Kolkata Knight Riders have managed to win a total of 19 matches while Sunrisers Hyderabad have emerged victorious on just 9 occasions. Interestingly, KKR defeated SRH thrice in IPL 2024 including the grand finale. 

3 player battles to watch out for in the KKR vs SRH IPL 2025 match

1. Quinton de Kock vs Mohammed Shami

While playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Quinton de Kock looked in a terrific touch during the game against Rajasthan Royals as he smashed an amazing match-winning knock of 97 runs off just 61 deliveries that included 8 fours and 6 sixes. On the other hand, for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, senior fast bowler Mohammed Shami has not been amongst the wickets so far in IPL 2025. However, the Indian pacer has dominated the head-to-head battle with the former South African cricketer in the IPL history. Shami has dismissed de Kock as many as three times while the left-hander has a strike-rate of 150. Thus, it will be an interesting battle to watch out for in the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2025 match starting on Thursday. 

2. Ishan Kishan vs Sunil Narine

Ishan Kishan kickstarted his IPL 2025 campaign with the Sunrisers Hyderabad in an exceptional manner with an unbelievable century in his opening game against the Rajasthan Royals. However, after that game, the southpaw was dismissed for a golden duck and in the last match against Delhi Capitals, he scored just 2 runs. On the other hand, veteran spinner Sunil Narine has not looked that much effective with the ball in the couple of games played in the Indian Premier League 2025 season. It has been a battle of equals between these two cricketers in this T20 competition. Narine has dismissed hime twice while Ishan has an incredible strike-rate of over 150. 

3. Heinrich Klaasen vs Varun Chakravarthy

Incidentally, Heinrich Klaasen has got some fine starts in all the three matches for the Sunrisers Hyderabad so far in the tournament but everytime, he has failed to convert them into a bigger score. On the other side, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy came into IPL 2025 with an impressive reputation picking wickets at regular basis for India across the white-ball formats. However, he has failed to continue with the same magic in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League. On the other hand, Klaasen has had the edge over Chakravarthy in their IPL head-to-head battle. The swashbuckling South African batter has a phenomenal strike-rate of 175 while Varun has dismissed him only once in the IPL.