Table-toppers Delhi Capitals (DC) will aim to return on the winning path when they face fourth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 42nd match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Saturday. After a five-wicket defeat against King XI Punjab (KXIP) in their last match, Delhi will expect their batters to raise the bar as barring Shikhar Dhawan, all others have faltered.
It was Dhawan’s second consecutive ton which had single-handedly propelled DC to a fighting total against KXIP before their bowlers failed to defend the target. Young Prithvi Shah’s last four outings include two ducks while captain Shreyas Iyer has struggled to regain his form with the bat he showed in much of the first half of the league stage since sustaining a sidestrain. Rishabh Pant had made a comeback from injury in the previous game but the dashing stumper is yet to regain his momentum with the bat.
In the bowling department, in-form pacer Kagiso Rabada will once again try to put the KKR batsmen in trouble along with his South African compatriot Anrich Nortze, who missed the last match against KXIP but is likely to make a return against KKR. Axar Patel and ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will once again look to use the conditions effectively to get the breakthroughs in the middle overs.
On the other hand, despite sitting at the fourth spot, KKR’s advancement to the playoffs is uncertain and the Eoin Morgan-led side now needs to forget the heart-breaking loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Wednesday. KKR had an embarrassing outing against RCB, being restricted to a paltry 84 despite batting for 20 overs. While Shubman Gill and Rahul Tripathi will have to provide an ideal start, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik and Morgan need to convert the starts they have got in recent games. In another mouth-watering fixture, KXIP are facing Sunrisers. After three consecutive wins, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) have managed to remain afloat in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The KL Rahul-led side will now face a stern test when they take on fifth-placed SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 43rd contest of the season here on Saturday. Both Punjab and Hyderabad are on eight po ints but the David Warner-led team is a spot ahead in the points-table, thanks to their better net run rate. The two teams now need to win all their remaining games in order to remain in contention for the next round. KXIP captain KL Rahul and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal have been in sublime form and the arrival of Chris Gayle has further bolstered their top-order. However, Glenn Maxwell’s consistency remains doubtful as, barring the last game against Delhi Capitals (DC), the Aussie has not been up to the mark.