KKR vs DC, September 28 2021, 3:30 PM IST
With two dominating wins over Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders have ensured they’ve picked up momentum at the right time. The loss against Chennai Super Kings, KKR will hope, was a minor bump as they aim to push on for a position in the playoffs.
Delhi Capitals, however, present a very different challenge from the last three games. Anrich Nortje in particular has been hurting oppositions with his pace.He has been consistently bowling over the 145 km/ph mark. KKR’s openers gave the side good start against RCB and MI but couldn’t quite get in the zone against CSK. If they are able to present a challenge to DC, the openers will not only have to neutralise the Nortje threat but also put the pacer under pressure.
DC, with eight wins from 10 matches, will hope to continue the momentum and are aiming for a top-two finish. Ricky Ponting has stressed the side needs to peak at the right time and a win against KKR will help them pull away quite significantly from third-placed RCB (12 points).
KKR, with four matches to go, can’t afford any more slip-ups with Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians also in contention for the fourth spot.
Where: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
What to expect:The two matches in Sharjah have been low-scoring due to the slowish surfaces. James Hopes felt the outright pace of his bowlers could go against them and hinted that we can expect more variations. Teams will want to bat first with a hot afternoon set to greet the sides.
Head To Head: KKR 14 – 12 DC. The last time these two sides met, DC smashed KKR by seven wickets after chasing down 154 inside 17 overs.
Team News:
KKR
Injured/Unavailable: Andre Russell heard “something pop” in his hamstring and hobbled off the field against CSK. He is likely to be unavailable for this match.
Probable XI:Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shakib al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prasidh Krishna
DC
Injured/Unavailable: Hopes confirmed that the fast bowlers were rested and didn’t train after their afternoon match against Rajasthan Royals. He also clarified the side is not looking to rest any players at this point.
Marcus Stoinis, however, is likely to miss this clash as he recovers from the leg injury he picked against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Shaw too picked an injury in the last game and didn’t take the field during the chase. If he’s unavailable, DC have the option of going with either Steve Smith or Sam Billings.
Probable XI:Prithvi Shaw/Steve Smith/Sam Billings, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan
Interesting Stats:
- DC have won five of their last six matches against KKR ( I personally believe DC are going to win this match too.)
- In the three innings in UAE, Shubman Gill has not only bettered his average from India but has also lifted his boundary percentage from 17 to 22.9 per cent.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.