The much-anticipated IPL 2024 playoffs kick off today with a fiery clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first against a formidable Kolkata Knight Riders side.

SRH are unchanged while KKR have brought in Rahmanullah Gurbaz in place of Phil Salt for this crucial knockout game, the winner of which will go straight to the final. Salt went back home to England last week.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, T Natarajan

SRH Impact Subs: Sanvir Singh, Umran Malik, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

KKR Impact Subs: Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Nitish Rana, KS Bharat, Sherfaine Rutherford

Shreyas Iyer-led KKR dominated the group stage, finishing at the top of the points table with an impressive Net Run Rate (NRR). They'll be looking to continue their winning momentum against a rejuvenated Hyderabad outfit.

 Under Pat Cummins' aggressive leadership, Sunrisers Hyderabad have emerged as a force to be reckoned with this season. Their fearless brand of cricket has propelled them to the second spot, and they'll be eager to upset the favourites.

The winner of this nail-biting contest will secure a direct ticket to the grand finale on May 26th. The loser will get a second chance in the eliminator against the winner of the Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match.

Both teams boast explosive batting lineups and potent bowling attacks. This promises to be a high-scoring and action-packed encounter. Stay tuned for all the updates!