Hello everyone, welcome to my 2nd review for the Steem Cricket Expert.
It's the 42nd match of this season between Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals. Here is my Review 01 - RR vs SRH (22/10/2020 post.
Review 02 | KKR vs DC (24/10/2020)
The match will be held on Saturday afternoon at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Well, it is a crucial game for both the teams to seal their spot in the play-offs, especially for KKR.
Both teams are fighting really hard this season, currently staying in the top half of the points table
Kolkata is at the fourth position, winning 5 matches(10 points) from 10 matches so far. So, this is a must-win game for them with the challenge of KXIP for the place. Dinesh Karthik stepped down from captaincy giving the responsibility to Eoin Morgan and with the shocking defeat against RCB, he will be really looking forward to a win.
On the other hand, the Capitals have been quite brilliant so far in the tournament under the captaincy of Iyer. They have only loose 3 matches out of 10, securing the 2nd position.
Team Form and News
Probable XI - KKR
Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine/Tom Banton, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Rahul Tripathi, Andre Russell/Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Well, this season is not good for most of the KKR players.
Two Caribbean weapons Narine and Russel were not in form, even though they can be aggressive at any moment. But with the injuries, they are not sure today.
Even though, Pat Cummins got the highest bid he has failed to provide the necessity. Indian bowlers like Mavi, Nagarkoti, Varun also in up and down motion, not consistent. Batting also not good either. Rana, Karthik, Tripathi don't do their job properly.
Probable XI - DC
Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tushar Deshpande
Both bowling and batting have been strong and consistent for DC. Apart from the poor form of Pant and shaw others are playing well. Shikar got back to back hundreds. And with the bowling line up OFRabada, Nortje, Ashwin KKR will have a big challenge.
Key Players
The Player Performance so far - KKR
| Most Runs | Most Wickets |
|---|---|
| Shubman Gill (312) | Varun Chakravarthy (7) |
| Eoin Morgan (278) | Shivam Mavi (7) |
| Nitish Rana(184) | Andre Russel (6) |
Morgan and Ferguson will be the key player for KKR today. Morgan has to provide a quick inning down the order. And Ferguson in his first, bowl impressively.
The Player Performance so far - DC
| Most Runs | Most Wickets |
|---|---|
| Shikar Dhavan (465) | Rabada (21) |
| Shreyas Iyer (335) | Nortje (12) |
| Stoinis(226) | Axar Patel (8) |
Rabada will be the key player here. Currently, he is holding the purple cap with 21 wickets. His contribution in the powerplay and death overs will be crucial.
And the success of Dhavan at the top order is another key factor.
Head to Head
This two teams have faced 24 times in the IPL so far. Out of them,
KKR – 13 wins
DC – 11 wins
The last match between these two was in this season, 440 runs were scored. DC scored 228 batting first with Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 88*-runs. KKR fell short by 18 runs, scoring 210 in the chase with Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi’s cameos.
Match Prediction
So, with the performance of this season, DC are the favorites today. So, I guess they will win.
But this is cricket. Things can be changed.
So, let’s see what will happen. Good luck for the both teams.
Best Regards!
Thank you!