KKR vs DC could be yet another one-sided Indian T20 League match given the dismal form of Kolkata and an all-firing Team Delhi. Losing back-to-back matches against Bangalore by huge margins, Kolkata’s chances of making it to the playoffs have received a huge jolt as Punjab regain their form.
However, Kolkata will come to the match as the superior team in head-to-head. Kolkata have won 13 of the 25 KKR vs DC encounters and lost 11 matches. Delhi, though, have won three of their last five face-offs.
KEY BATTLES
Eoin Morgan vs Shikhar Dhawan
Despite having just 278 runs from the 10 matches that he played, captain Eoin Morgan remains Kolkata’s biggest hope with the bat, which pretty much reflects the dire situation that the team is in now. Coming fifth to bat, Morgan has been largely needed to hold the mast steady to take his team to a competitive target. Hence, his average last three scores of 30, 34 and 39* have seemed crucial.
Though Delhi’s batting have seen a short underperformance with the bat as well, they have a certain Shikhar Dhawan who has been in scintillating form. With 465 runs from 10 matches at a brilliant strike rate of 149.03, Dhawan has been the man to watch out for in the tournament. The southpaw has hit back to back centuries against Chennai and Punjab and looks all set to snatch the orange cap from KL Rahul.
PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Shreyas Iyer
Though Shreyas Iyer has been inconsistent this season with a nagging injury also contributing to his lack of form, his performances against Kolkata have mostly been gold. Iyer’s best performance with the bat this season came against Kolkata where he stayed unbeaten at 88 to post a winning 200 plus target earlier this season.
Axar Patel
The left-arm spinner has been one of Delhi’s silent weapons this season. While he has taken only eight wickets in nine matches so far, Axar Patel has filled the vacuum left by injured veteran Amit Mishra. With an economy rate of 5.74, Patel has averaged 19.62 so far, and trails only Lockie Ferguson, Rashid Khan and Chris Morris in bowling. And with Kolkata struggling immensely with the bat, Patel could very well be Iyer’s trump card.
Pat Cummins
With Kolkata’s top batting order failing repeatedly, the side has often seen Morgan and Pat Cummins playing slow innings to keep the score ticking. The Australian all-rounder was the highest-priced player at the auction and Kolkata have extracted every penny through his service with the bat as well as the ball. Though Morgan hasn’t picked many wickets so far, innings like his unbeaten 53 against Mumbai could see him scoring high on player performance.
PREDICTED XI
Kolkata: Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Tom Banton, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna
Delhi: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tushar Deshpande, Kagiso Rabada, Daniel Sams, Axar Patel
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