Sharjah: Locked at four points each, Delhi Capitals would aim to top the chart when they face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday (October 3).
Delhi started their season with a spine chilling Super Over win against the Kings XI Punjab and followed it up with a huge 44-run win over the Chennai Super Kings. However, an exhausted batting performance saw them stumble to a 15-run loss against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last.
On the other hand, KKR Riders have had a run quite opposite of the Capitals. Having started the campaign on a losing note against Mumbai Indians, the Dinesh Karthik-led side came back strongly to register back-to-back wins, a seven-wicket victory against SRH and most recently a 37-run win against the Rajasthan Royals.
Shubman Gill proved a gem for KKR having scored 124 runs from three matches with one fifty to his name. However, today, all eyes will be on Sunil Narine. The Trinidadian has failed to impress at the top of the order this season, and this match could very well decide if KKR want to persist with Narine at the top, alongside Gill.
Axar Patel and Amit Mishra have economy rates of just 4.60 and 7.25 respectively this season, and if Ravichandran Ashwin is suitable for this match, Delhi might be forced to make a change in their playing XI.
Kagiso Rabada will be the X-factor for Delhi, and he will need to be at his best to stop the KKR batsmen. Meanwhile, KKR would be banking on the young bowling trio of Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Varun Chakravarthy, who have been exceptional in the last two matches.
Left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav has been taken for plenty in the three games so far and has only one wicket to his name. And yet, despite Kuldeep’s poor show, KKR’s options on the bowling front could be a decisive factor in today’s game.
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant, Alex Carey, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Keemo Paul, Daniel Sams, Lalit Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Ravichandran Ashwin, Anrich Nortje, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Harshal Patel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Avesh Khan, Tushar Deshpande.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik, Nikhil Naik, Eoin Morgan, Siddhesh Lad, Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Tom Banton, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Pat Cummins, Sandeep Warrier, Kuldeep Yadav, Chris Green, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Manimaran Siddharth, Varun Chakravarthy, Ali Khan.
