Delhi vs Kolkata - Match Preview, Fantasy, Key Players, Pitch Report, Probable XI & More (41st Match, IPL)
It's a double-header on Tuesday, 28th September, with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the afternoon at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah. The Mumbai Indians (MI) clash with the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi later in the day.
I made some changes after the toss, bringing in Chris Morris (ALL) (RR) (9 Credits) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (BAT) (RR) (7 Credits) over Liam Livingstone and Chetan Sakariya.
I'll talk about the transfers out before coming to ones I'm bringing in. I'm going to bring Harshal Patel in as my uncapped transfer before RCB's next game, but I'm taking him out now to make space for Chris Morris.
Shreyas Iyer was my first choice for this match, and I know the risks of going in without a DC opener. However, on a slow track where spinners could run the show, Iyer looks like a player who could dominate. Rabada can pick up wickets on any surface, and should be in my team for most of DC's games.The three uncapped KKR players could contribute lots of IPL Fantasy points between them.
Varun Chakravarthy picked up a five-wicket haul against DC last season, and he looks to be in good form this time too. Venkatesh Iyer is a value pick with the bat at the top of the order.
KKR need to win this fixture to gain an advantage in the scrap for the playoff places, while DC could seal qualification with a win.
KKR didn't do much wrong against CSK, and most of their setbacks were due to some good cricket from their opponents. Skipper Eoin Morgan did well to control CSK's chase and put KKR in a commanding position to close out the game.
However, the decision to give the penultimate over to seamer Prasidh Krishna turned out to be the wrong one on that surface, and it cost them the game. Andre Russell getting injured amidst all of this didn't help.
DC, meanwhile, put up a decent total on the board against RR on a sluggish Abu Dhabi track. They were on the money with the ball right from the first over and bowled their way to a clinical 33-run win.
However, Marcus Stoinis' injury has created a slight imbalance in their batting order, and their top five will look to compensate for that and play more carefully.
While Stoinis remains the only injury worry for DC, KKR will be without Kuldeep Yadav for the remainder of the season. More crucially, they're expected to be without Andre Russell after he picked up a hamstring injury against CSK.
Nevertheless, these sides have produced some exciting contests whenever they've met. In the reverse fixture, DC cruised home courtesy of a Prithvi Shaw special. KKR will be keen to avoid that come Tuesday afternoon in Sharjah.
Pitch Report
The wicket at Sharjah should be on the slower side, with the spinners likely to be crucial. The pacers should mix their lengths up and use their cutters and slower balls effectively.
KKR Key Players : Rahul Tripathi, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson
DC Key Players : Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada
Probable XI
Kolkata Knight Riders
Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, and Prasidh Krishna
Delhi Capitals
Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (C/WK), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Avesh Khan