The finalists of IPL 2024 Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad are back as they are ready to face each other in the 15th match of the ongoing IPL 2025 on Thursday at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Both teams last met in the final of the IPL 2024 where KKR had prevailed to win the title. This season, the situation hasn’t been great for either of them, having kicked off their campaign in an unpleasant fashion. They are eager to bounce back from defeats in their last fixtures, making this match incredibly vital.

Having played three games each, both sides find themselves in a similar predicament, with only one win to their name so far. However, the points table paints a stark contrast between the two sides, with KKR languishing at the bottom of the standings, while SRH sit just above them in 8th place.

KKR’s early IPL campaign has been disappointing. After three games, they have managed just one win and are currently at the bottom of the points table. Their performance has been inconsistent, with both the batting and bowling departments struggling to find their rhythm. In their previous match, they suffered a loss against Mumbai Indians. KKR will hope to find more stability in their batting attack, which so far hasn’t shown promising signs, with players like Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh failing to fire. 

Similarly, SRH have also found the going tough this season, with just one win in three games. Sitting in the 8th spot on the points table, they too will be looking to bounce back from a recent loss. The main cause behind their colossal failure has been the inconsistency that has hindered their ability to dominate. On the bowling front, while they have a potent attack, they have not been able to apply enough pressure in key moments, which has cost them dearly.

However, both teams will see this match as an opportunity to avoid falling further behind in the race for the top spots in the league. 

Head-to-head

Matches -  28

KKR won - 18

SRH won - 9

Tied - 1

Kolkata Knight Riders probable XII: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora

Sunrisers Hyderabad probable XII: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma,  Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (c), Adam Zampa, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Simarjeet Singh