Delhi Capitals will face their second strong test in three days when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 16 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam today, Wednesday.
DC have the opportunity to show they mean business but they will have to replicate Sunday's performance when they produced an all-round display to outclass defending champions Chennai Super Kings after two successive losses.
Three days later, the challenge is bigger as they host KKR, the only unbeaten team in IPL 2024 so far other than Rajasthan Royals.
The Purple and Gold Army are coming on the back of two impressive victories. Shreyas Iyer's men opened their campaign with a close win against Sunrisers Hyderabad and then thumped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to maintain their unblemished record.
Buoyant Capitals eye back-to-back wins
The Capitals come into this fixture after a morale-boosting 20-run win against five-time champions CSK. After suffering losses against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals, Rishabh Pant's men bounced back brilliantly to outclass the holders in all three departments of the game.
The Capitals would hope to produce another such performance against the Knight Riders in Vizag, their second home ground.
Shaw, Warner act must go on for DC
Prithvi Shaw and David Warner had give DC a much-need start with their 93-run opening stand against CSK. The duo must repeat their heroics at the top of the order. Rishabh Pant, who continues his extraordinary journey after a 15-month hiatus from the game, gave a glimpse of his extraordinary talent with a superb half-century against CSK.
It's imperative for DC that their captain capitalises on the terrific knock he put on display against the Yellow Army. He was promoted to the No. 3 position in the last match, after having batted a rung lower in the first two matches. Pant grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
If South African batter Tristan Stubbs and Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh find their groove, Capitals' will be able to maximise their full potential in the batting department.
Khaleel's brilliant spell against CSK was a breath of fresh air for the Capitals, who struggled badly in the bowling department in the first two games. South African Anrich Nortje, returning after an injury, is yet to make a mark in the tournament but after a couple of matches under his belt, he is primed to find his rhythm soon.
DC had missed Kuldeep Yadav, who nursed a niggle in the last game. DC must be ready to get him back in the XI.
Can Knight Riders seal a hat-trick of wins?
KKR will look to continue their superb run of form in the 17th edition of the lucrative T20 league. The two-time champions look like one of the most balanced units in the tournament, at least after witnessing the initial round of matches this season.
New recruit Phil Salt, all-rounder Andre Rusell and Venkatesh Iyer have all started off on a positive note. The KKR trio would aim to carry their good form against the Capitals.
Shreyas Iyer, the KKR captain, also found his form against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Bowling a worrying area of KKR
KKR, though, need a major improvement in their bowling department to pose a serious title challenge. Barring rookie pacer Harshit Rana, other bowlers, including record-buy Mitchell Starc and Varun Chakravarthy, have failed to live up to their potential.
The two-time IPL champions have been ineffective with the ball in the powerplay, having tournament’s worst economy of 10.75 in the first six overs.
DC vs KKR Head-to-head
The head-to-head record of KKR and DC is as close as it gets. In 32 IPL meetings so far, Delhi have won 15 whereas Kolkata have emerged victorious on 16 occasions. One match between the two sides ended without a result.
DC vs KKR Squads
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Pravin Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Tristan Stubbs, Ricky Bhui, Kumar Kushagra, Rasikh Dar, Jhye Richardson, Sumit Kumar, Swastik Chikara and Shai Hope.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Match starts at 7.30 pm IST
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