- Kolkata Knight Riders have won the last three meetings between the sides
- Kolkata Knight Riders have won their last five matches
- Recommended bet: Kolkata Knight Riders to win

Kolkata Knight Riders recorded an eight-wicket demolition over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the play-offs on Tuesday to seal their place in the Indian Premier League final and now they will be looking to finish the job against the same opponents at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The reward for that victory is a home final against Sunrisers, who defeated Rajasthan Royals in their second bite of the cherry on Friday to get their shot at a rematch with the Knight Riders.

Kolkata finished top of the regular season standings, winning nine of their 14 games, to finish three points clear of Sunrisers, who won eight of their 14 outings.

So it is only fitting that the best two teams over the course of the season meet in pursuit of the silverware, but KKR have had the edge in winning four of their last five rivalries.

Hyderabad will be out to go bang, bang and kill off the match in the opening six overs with the power of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi.

But that formula did not work in their recent play-off as Kolkata fast bowler Mitchell Starc scythed through SRH's top order, taking three wickets to help restrict them to 159.

Kolkata chased that down with 6.2 overs to spare, suggesting that they are going to be difficult to beat.

Team news

With Phil Salt having been called up for England duty, Kolkata have had Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz opening the batting alongside Sunil Narine.

Andre Russell and Starc have been vital overseas players for KKR this season, especially with the ball, while Narine has also shown his versatility by excelling in that discipline.

South African international Aiden Markram was called in for Sunrisers’ semi-final win over Rajasthan Royals, but he made only one run from two balls so may struggle to retain his spot.

Heinrich Klaasen is one of the biggest hitters in the world and he looks vital to Hyderabad’s winning prospects, although Aussie opener Head also has the power to win the contest single handedly.

The stats

Kolkata Knight Riders have lifted the Indian Premier League title twice in 2012 and 2014 while SRH have won the marquee event once, although their success came more recently in 2016.

Knight Riders have won four of the last five meetings between the sides, which includes the last three, and they go into the final on a five-match winning run.

Narine is Kolkata’s leading run scorer with 482 runs from his 13 innings while Head leads the way for Sunrisers, having racked up 567 in 14 innings.

Varun Chakravarthy has taken 20 wickets in 14 matches for Kolkata while Thangarasu Natarajan has taken 19 wickets in 13 matches for Hyderabad.

Prediction

Given the ease in which Kolkata dismissed the Sunrisers on Tuesday, it is hard to see roles being reversed in this IPL final.

KKR were eight-wicket winners, chasing down 159 with 38 balls to spare as the two Iyers, Shreyas and Venkatesh, took the bull by the horns and both got a half-century.

Kolkata have won their last three meetings with Sunrisers and they can frank that form, especially as they are sure to get a strong welcome from a passionate crowd.

Back Kolkata Knight Riders to win at 10/13 with LiveScore Bet.