After a nail-biting last-ball finish against the Chennai Super Kings, the Kolkata Knight Riders will be back in action as they take on the Delhi Capitals at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, 28th September.
Despite the last encounter not going in favour of the Knights, the team has been in sublime form in the second phase of the Indian Premier League. The aggressive brand of cricket and the discipline in the bowling unit make the Knight Riders a team to watch out for in the competition.
The bowling unit of the Knight Riders, especially the spinners, have been the standout performers for the team in the middle overs. Since IPL 2020, Knight Riders have picked up 42 wickets in 17 matches at an average of 26.24, which is the best by any team in UAE.
The bowling unit led by Varun Chakaravarthy will hold the key for the team in the middle overs against a formidable batting unit of the Capitals.
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The batting unit looks settled, with the likes of Venkatesh Iyer and Rahul Tripathi in sublime form. The fearless brand of cricket incorporated by the young batting unit has been a significant reason for the scintillating performance by the Knight Riders in the second phase of the competition.
The last game witnessed Dinesh Karthik's ability as one of the best finishers in the league as he scored 26 off 11 deliveries to propel the side to 171/6 in the first innings. An integral part of the batting unit of the Knight Riders, it will be interesting to see if the team will promote him up the order in this high-voltage clash.
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On the other hand, the Delhi Capitals are one of the most balanced sides in the competition and have most of the bases covered in this edition of the league. While Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw form a formidable opening combination, the inclusion of Shreyas Iyer in the second phase has strengthened the batting department.
The bowling unit led by Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada have been instrumental in giving the team breakthroughs early in the innings. The duo and the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin will hold the key for the Capitals in this upcoming encounter.
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The Knight Riders will head into this game with a slight advantage after winning 14 of the 26 matches played between the two sides.
KKR squad list:
Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan (c), Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Pawan Negi, Tim Seifert, Shakib al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer.
DC Squad list:
Rishabh Pant (C and WK), Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Ben Dwarshuis, Anrich Nortje, Steve Smith, Umesh Yadav, Ripal Patel, Lukman Hussain Meriwala, M Siddharth, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Pravin Dubey, Vishnu Vinod
