Hyderabad: The seemingly invincible Kolkata Knight Riders will start favourites when they square off against Australia’s Hobart Hurricanes in the first of the semi-finals of the Champions League T20 here tomorrow on Thursday.
In the second semis, Chennai Super Kings will eager to avenge the loss they suffered in the play-off of the Indian Premier League VII when they take on Kings XI.
The former champions suffered a 24-loss to Punjab in a thrilling, high-scoring clash at the Wankhede Stadium, after Virender Sehwag set the tone with a stunning century. Suresh Raina led the runchase for the Super Kings who caved in from a winning position.
The Knight Riders are on a roll having remained unbeaten in the CLT20 and registering 13 wins in a row since the IPL T20 tournament this year.
The batting department of KKR, comprising captain Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Jacques Kallis, Ryan ten Doeschate and Andre Russel has been in great form.
In the bowling department, however, there has been some turmoil after ‘mystery spinner’ Sunil Narine was reported for suspect action in their last group match.
However, the young Kuldeep Yadav, all-rounders such as Yusuf Pathan, Ten Doeschate and Russel have been quite successful.
KKR’s star batsman Uthappa has said his team would like to focus on their strengths in the semi-finals against Hobert Hurricanes.
The Kolkata side have played all their matches in the Group stage in Hyderabad and they are expected to have the advantage of familiarity. KKR’s coach Wasim Akram had recently said that Hyderabad has become a home away from home for the team.
Hobart Hurricanes, on the other hand, have set an impressive record in the tournament having won three of the four matches they have played.
