A cliff-hanger likely

Kolkata: Despite their dominance throughout the league stages, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will have to bring their best to the table when they take on buoyant Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Qualifier 2 here on Friday.

The winner of Friday's big-ticket game at the Eden Gardens will take on Mahenda Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final on Sunday in Mumbai.

Sunrisers finished top of the points table after 14 matches and have been quite the team to beat with an exceptional bowling battery and solid batting.

But the Kane Williamson-led side have lost four games on the trot including their two-wicket loss in the Qualifier 1 to CSK and the last league clash against KKR.

Dinesh Karthik's KKR, on the contrary, have won four games on the trot, their latest being a 25-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in the Eto reach Qualifier 2.

Since suffering their heaviest ever defeat margin of 102 runs against the Mumbai Indians, KKR have not looked back with skipper Karthik leading from the front and the likes of West Indies star Andre Russell and the wrist spinners stepping up to the occasion.

On Wednesday night, the purple brigade were reduced to 24/3 during the Powerplay overs and were in trouble at 51/4 soon after. But Karthik (52) and Shubman Gill (28) stemmed the rot before Russell (25-ball 49) batted magnificently to take them to a fighting total of 169/7.

In reply, the Royals were on course with 87/1 at the halfway stage before Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav spun a web around the settled Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson to effect an effortless triumph in the end.

In the last four outings, KKR have made comebacks from slippery situations, a facet which has underlined the team's character.

The Sunrisers, on the other hand, bank on their bowling which has a lot of variety and some of the best names in the business.

Against CSK, it was in full bloom as the trio of pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul and highly-rated leggie Rashid Khan brought their rivals to their knees before Faf du Plessis rescued the ship.

Rashid has been brilliant throughout the season and his wrong'un to castle Dhoni in the last game was a thing of beauty. The Afghanistan spinner just conceded 11 runs in four overs and KKR would be wary of him the most.

On the batting front, top scorer of the tournament Williamson has led from the front. The New Zealand skipper, rated as one of the best batters of today, has so far amassed 685 runs in 15 games at 57.08. Williamson has also led admirably on the field.

For KKR, their main spin weapon Sunil Narine had an off day against Royals and would look to get back to form. A lot will depend on how the spinner go about their job for both teams as the Eden wicket will offer turn.

Meanwhile, KKR chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav said that SRH will not find it easy to adjust to the Eden Gardens strip.

He felt that the men in purple's 'home advantage' should hold them in good stead as the Wankhede Stadium pitch in Mumbai is different from the one at Eden.

"For us, it's very easy to play here. It's home ground for us. We are very used to the conditions. Obviously, it will be difficult for them to come from Mumbai and play here.

The wicket is totally different here from Mumbai where it has true bounce. Here it helps the spinners. It will be a good contest," Kuldeep said.