IPL Kolkata v Hyderabad: Latest Odds & Analysis

Kolkata v Hyderabad predictions: 

• Kolkata to win - 1.91 @ Melbet Sports
• Sunrisers to have the higher 6 over score - 1.8 @ Melbet Sports
• Heinrich Klaasen over 23.5 runs - 1.83 @ Melbet Sports

When: Tuesday 21 May, 7:30pm IST

Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Watch: Star Sports and JioCinema

Best Odds: Kolkata 1.91, Hyderabad 1.91

Kolkata Knight Riders found consistency when it mattered most, making excellent use of a soft run home to win four consecutive matches - all against teams out of finals contention - whilst washouts in their final two matches gave them a much needed rest ahead of their first Qualifier 1 appearance since 2014.

Betting sites in India are expecting to take more money than ever before on the 2024 IPL playoffs and are therefore dishing out plenty of offers and promotions to attract new players.

At time of publication, cricket betting apps had ‘flip a coin’ odds for this game between Kolkata and second-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad, who under the leadership of Daniel Vettori and Pat Cummins are making their first playoffs appearance since 2020.

After a successful weekend with our IPL best bets previews, here are our three favourite selections 

The Numbers That Matter

• The betting outsider won each of the last six completed games in Ahmedabad
• Kolkata won seven of the last nine H2Hs
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar leads the season for powerplay wickets (ten at 7.53rpo)
• Sunil Narine batting in Ahmedabad: 0, 0, 0!

Fit, fresh and in stellar away form

Kolkata will have effectively had nine days off in between matches thanks to poor weather in both Guwahati and Ahmedabad and should therefore be fresh physically and mentally for what promises to be a difficult assignment.

Whilst all four playoffs games will be neutral with Gujarat and Chennai out of the running, the league stage can still provide some handy insights into which teams are likely to better handle unfamiliar territory. 

The Knight Riders finished the season with a 4-1 away record, denied by rain the opportunity to test their skills at Narendra Modi Stadium.

Sunrisers, on the other hand, were held to a score of just 162 in a loss to Gujarat as part of a 3-4 record on the road. 

Those numbers tell us that Kolkata is by far the better travelling side of the season, and they’ve got the arsenal to thwart the Head-Abhishek blitzkrieg - for example, Abhishek scores at a strike rate of “only” 140 against Kolkata’s last six bowlers. 

Whereas the teams are evenly matched when it comes to their batting run rates - 10.63rpo to 10.60rpo - Sunrisers have had to effectively ‘outblast’ their opponents to make up for having the worst collective economy rate (10.17rpo) of all ten franchises. 

The men in purple appear to have the more rounded game, a settled XI (other than replacing Phil Salt), the benefit of more than one week of rest, and at 1.91 are a very attractive price considering these advantages.

Prediction: Kolkata to win - 1.91 @ Melbet Sports

Hyderabad the powerplay kings

Thanks almost solely to the pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who are first and third respectively for most powerplay runs in 2024, Sunrisers Hyderabad came out with the higher six-over score in a league-best 11 of their 13 completed games. 

It comes as no surprise that four of their five highest powerplay scores in history came this year, including breaking the 100-run barrier twice without even losing a single wicket.

Their powerplay game even went to another level on Sunday when Rahul Tripathi, a late addition to the XI this season, scored at 12 runs per over himself against Punjab to add some depth to the top of their order.

Kolkata were the second-fastest scoring team of the season during the powerplay, but most of their runs during that period came from Phil Salt (296), who has left the competition to play England’s home series against Pakistan.

They were meant to get two games to find a replacement such as Rahmanullah Gurbaz or potentially even moving Venkatesh Iyer to the top of the order, but whoever joins Narine will instead have to be thrown in the deep end.

That leaves question marks over their powerplay productivity, so we’re very keen on the odds offered by some cricket betting sites for Sunrisers to ‘win’ the powerplay for a 12th time.

Prediction: Sunrisers to have the higher 6 over score - 1.8 @ Melbet Sports

Hyderabad Heinrich is back!

Sunrisers’ South African wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen spoke candidly after his 26-ball 42 on Sunday of his struggles in hitting the ball cleanly of late but believes he’s back on the improve after making some adjustments in the nets against spinners.

What better time, then, to meet a bowling attack he has had an enjoyable time against in his brief IPL career that has resulted in number 45s all over the back of orange shirts at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium this year.

Klaasen punched out eight sixes in a 29-ball 63 against Kolkata in the opening round of this season, when Sunrisers fell agonisingly short of chasing 209 at Eden Gardens.

He hit five separate bowlers over the fence that evening - all but Sunil Narine - and when combined with previous IPL seasons and the 2023 Major League Cricket campaign, Klaasen averages a hefty 51 at nearly 13 runs per over against Kolkata’s previous bowling attack.

Do be wary of the risks that come with backing middle order batters in over/under markets: for example, if Klaasen faces five balls for 12 runs, this play will be unsuccessful. 

But with Hyderabad losing 6+ wickets in six of their last seven matches, he should get the opportunity to clear this mark and make a big mark on Hyderabad’s chances to progress.

Prediction: Heinrich Klaasen over 23.5 runs - 1.83 @ Melbet Sports