KKR vs SRH Star Wars: Andre Russell vs Rashid Khan

KKR's Andre Russell, despite his batting heroics this season, will face an acid test when he goes up against SRH leg-spinner Rashid Khan.

Andre Russell:

The West Indian all-rounder has struck at 190.85 this IPL, providing the much-needed thrust at the back end of an innings.Against Rajasthan Royals in a knockout encounter, with KKR reeling at 51 for 4, Russell slammed a 25-ball 49 to power Kolkata to an eventually match-winning total of 169. Russell has 313 runs from 15 matches and has batted at No. 4, No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 for KKR in this edition. With Sunrisers Hyderabad boasting a bowling attack that takes wickets at critical intervals, Russell's big-hitting could throw the bowlers off their line and length at the death. 

Rashid Khan:  The Afghanistan leg-spinner has 18 wickets from 15 games at an economy rate of 6.91, and along with left-am spinner Shakib-Al-Hasan, has emerged as Sunrisers' key wicket-taking option this year. Albeit with batsmen going after his bowling, his effectiveness tapered off - he conceded 55 off his 4 overs in a match against Kings XI where Chris Gayle took him to the cleaners. That said, against KKR's middle-order muscle of Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell, Khan will be one of Hyderabad's key trump cards.