Delhi Capitals are top of the points table but will expect more from their batsmen after an underwhelming performance in the loss to Kings XI Punjab when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League game on Saturday.
KKR are heading into the contest after an embarrassing batting performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Blown away by Mohammed Siraj’s furious spell, KKR managed just 84 runs on the board. It certainly was a confidence-crushing defeat and KKR need to regroup quickly.
Sitting at fourth place in the table with 10 points, they would be desperate to increase their tally to stay alive in the play-offs race.
Head-to-head
| Matches | DC win | KKR win | Tied | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC vs KKR | 24 | 11 | 13 | 1 (DC won) |
Weekend matches line up#KKR vs DC#KXIP vs #SRH
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) October 23, 2020
RCB vs #CSK #RR vs #MI
Qualifiation scenarios:
If DC, RCB & MI win their respective games, the three teams will qualify for the Play-Offs with three matches still in hand.
CSK will stand eliminated.#IPL2020
For Delhi, opener Shikhar Dhawan has been in brilliant form but even his record-setting hundred was not enough to save the side from a defeat for lack of contribution from other batters.
Young Prithvi Shaw , whose last four innings have included two ducks, needs to bat with more responsibility at the top while captain Shreyas Iyer too has not been hitting the ball as fluently as he was before suffering a side strain. Rishabh Pant, who made a comeback from injury against Punjab, has not yet set the stage on fire as well.
Iyer and Pant, along with Marcus Stoinis, form the backbone of Capitals’ middle order. They are vital cogs in DC’s wheels and need to do more than just making good starts.
Pacer Anrich Nortje, who has been instrumental in Capitals’ superb run thus far along with his South African compatriot Kagiso Rabada, had a niggle and missed the last match against Punjab. If he comes back, it will add sting to DC’s attack. If he plays, Australian pacer Daniel Sams will have to make way for him.
KKR results
| Match | Day/Date/Time | Venue | Result | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KKR vs MI | 23 Sep, Wed (1930) | Abu Dhabi | KKR lost by 49 runs | 0 |
| KKR vs SRH | 26 Sep, Sat (1930) | Abu Dhabi | KKR won by 7 wickets | 2 |
| RR vs KKR | 30 Sep, Wed (1930) | Dubai | KKR won by 37 runs | 4 |
| DC vs KKR | 3 Oct, Sat (1930) | Sharjah | KKR lost by 18 runs | 4 |
| KKR vs CSK | 7 Oct, Wed (1930) | Abu Dhabi | KKR won by 10 runs | 6 |
| KXIP vs KKR | 10 Oct, Sat (1530) | Abu Dhabi | KKR won by 2 runs | 8 |
| RCB vs KKR | 12 Oct, Mon (1930) | Sharjah | KKR lost by 82 runs | 8 |
| MI vs KKR | 16 Oct, Fri (1930) | Abu Dhabi | KKR lost by 8 wickets | 8 |
| SRH vs KKR | 18 Oct, Sun (1530) | Abu Dhabi | KKR won Super Over | 10 |
| KKR vs RCB | 21 Oct, Wed (1930) | Abu Dhabi | KKR lost by 8 wickets | 10 |
DC results
| Match | Day/Date/Time | Venue | Result | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC vs KXIP | 20 Sep, Sun (1930) | Dubai | DC won Super Over after match was tied | 2 |
| CSK vs DC | 25 Sep, Fri (1930) | Dubai | DC won by 44 runs | 4 |
| DC vs SRH | 29 Sep, Tue (1930) | Abu Dhabi | DC lost by 15 runs | 4 |
| DC vs KKR | 3 Oct, Sat (1930) | Sharjah | DC won by 18 runs | 6 |
| RCB vs DC | 5 Oct, Mon (1930) | Dubai | DC won by 59 runs | 8 |
| RR vs DC | 9 Oct, Fri (1930) | Sharjah | DC won by 46 runs | 10 |
| MI vs DC | 11 Oct, Sun (1930) | Abu Dhabi | DC lost by 5 wickets | 10 |
| DC vs RR | 14 Oct, Wed (1930) | Dubai | DC won by 13 runs | 12 |
| DC vs CSK | 17 Oct, Sat (1930) | Sharjah | DC won by 5 wickets | 14 |
| KXIP vs DC | 20 Oct, Tue (1930) | Dubai | DC lost by 5 wickets | 14 |
For Kolkata, even the change in captaincy from Dinesh Karthik to Eoin Morgan has not made much of a difference to the side.
The performance of pacer Lockie Ferguson has been the only bright spot for them amid the disappointment of Andre Russell’s poor run. Russell missed out on the last match due to an injury and it will be interesting to see if the team management reposes faith in him, if he is fit.
KKR needs a collective effort from now on with skipper Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Shubhman Gill, Nitish Rana all required to contribute.
Squads
KKR Squad
| Batsmen | Bowlers | All-rounders | Wicketkeepers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitish Rana | Kuldeep Yadav | Andre Russell | Dinesh Karthik |
| Rinku Singh | Prasidh Krishna | Sunil Narine | Nikhil Shankar Naik |
| Shubman Gill | Sandeep Warrier | Pat Cummins | |
| Siddhesh Lad | Shivam Mavi | Varun Chakravarthy | |
| Eoin Morgan | Kamlesh Nagarkoti | Chris Green | |
| Rahul Tripathi | Lockie Ferguson | ||
| Tom Banton | M Siddharth | ||
| Ali Khan |
DC Squad
| Batsmen | Bowlers | All-rounders | Wicketkeepers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shreyas Iyer | Ishant Sharma | Axar Patel | Rishabh Pant |
| Prithvi Shaw | Amit Mishra | Harshal Patel | Alex Carey |
| Shikhar Dhawan | Avesh Khan | R Ashwin | |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Sandeep Lamichhane | Lalit Yadav | |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Kagiso Rabada | Marcus Stoinis | |
| Keemo Paul | Daniel Sams | ||
| Mohit Sharma | |||
| Tushar Deshpande | |||
| Anrich Nortje |
Match starts 3.30 pm IST and will be broadcast live on Star Sports network / Disney+ Hotstar
(With PTI inputs)