IPL 2020 Match Preview DC vs KKR | As Delhi aim for top position, Kolkata need to get their act together

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An unsettled opening combination, a fragile middle-order and underperforming big names but Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have still managed to be among the Top 4 teams of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. As the tournament nears the knockout stage, the real challenge for the team that recently changed the captain begins. KKR will be tested when they take on in-form Delhi Capitals in Abu Dhabi in the first of the two games of October 24. 

“We’re still fourth in the tournament, which is very fortunate for us. Destiny is still very much in our hands. We have just got to tighten up some of those areas where we’re deficient tonight and make sure we improve on our performance,” head coach Brendon McCullum said after the defeat in the previous game.

Also read: IPL 2020 | Why KKR is struggling with its batting this season

Numbers sometimes lie

If KXIP’s position in the points doesn’t truly reflect the way it has performed, KKR’s standing masks the fact that Shah Rukh Khan’s team rode on good fortune to win three matches that they could have easily lost. 

Time and luck, however, seem to be running out for KKR as they have lost three of their previous four matches. It’s ironic that a team being coached by McCullum, known for clobbering the opposition into submission, has been tentative in the crucial powerplay overs.  

KKR’s run-rate in this tone-setting phase has been below 7 (6.7) while all the teams including the struggling CSK have scored over 7 runs per over. 

Against one of the most formidable new-ball attack led by South Africa Kagiso Rabada, they will find it hard to change the pattern. Besides pace attack, Delhi Capitals have a spin duo of R Ashwin and Axar Patel who have been magnificent so far.

“All the pitches are definitely on the slower side, which is quite similar to India, but it is a different kind of slow. I feel the conditions in UAE have something for all facets of the game, be it bowling or batting,” said Rabada during a virtual press conference ahead of the match. 

Yet, DC knows no team is a pushover and a lot can change within days. “In this IPL, one thing that I can’t skip is that every team is in it. The match is not over till the very last over. The competitiveness is second to none. It is reflecting in how the games are contested and how deep they are going,” said Rabada.

Capitals’ concerns

Of late, Delhi have relied heavily on opener Shikhar Dhawan’s big contributions as the other opener Prithvi Shaw is struggling. Similarly, the fifth bowler issue is something a rival team can exploit. Do KKR have the game to expose the vulnerabilities of Delhi and hide their own at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on October 24?

Likely XI 

Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer (captain), 4 Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Tushar Deshpande

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Eoin Morgan (captain), 5 Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), 6 Tom Banton, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Lockie Ferguson, 9 Prasidh Krishna, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Kuldeep Yadav

(Vimal Kumar has covered multiple cricket world cups and Rio Olympics in the last two decades. The author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide can be reached @Vimalwa on Twitter)  

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