IPL 2017, Eliminator: 5 reasons why Sunrisers Hyderabad can beat Kolkata Knight Riders

SRH have a plethora of in-form stars

The reigning IPL champions, Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in what will be a repeat of last year's eliminator. SRH won it last time around and will be looking to do the same when the two sides meet on Wednesday.

In David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, SRH have both the Orange and Purple cap holders of this year's tournament. They also come into the playoffs as the higher-ranked side (they finished third as opposed to KKR's fourth place finish), something that might just be a factor with rains being a constant presence in the evenings in the week leading up to the game.

Here are five reasons why Sunrisers Hyderabad can beat Kolkata Knight Riders:

Momentum that will be key

Momentum is a funny thing in cricket. When you have it, things that never seem possible suddenly do. Just ask Royal Challengers Bangalore, who got it at the end of last season and made it all the way to the finals. In a game between evenly matched sides, momentum will be crucial and it is Sunrisers Hyderabad who have it.

Even though SRH have had an oddly arithmetic season in which two wins have been followed by two losses and vice versa, they still come into the playoffs on the back of two wins (in a run of four wins from their last six matches). KKR have crawled to the playoffs and can certainly count themselves lucky after their superior run rate and the inability of the teams around them sent them through in fourth place.

In their last five group matches, KKR won just one and come into the game against SRH on the back of back-to-back losses. So the momentum is certainly with SRH, which will be key in a crucial encounter between two strong sides.