Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer led KKR having the edge over his former team DC

Kolkatta Knight Riders - The points table leader 

Kolkata Knight Riders are coming off thrashing Mumbai Indians in their previous match. We have already witnessed two unbelievable hitting in the four matches played till now. Andre Russell, who smashed an unbeaten 31-ball 70 against Punjab Kings, and Pat Cummins, who smashed a stunning 56 not out off 15 balls, joined KL Rahul in the elite list of the joint-fastest half-century. The Shreyas Iyer-led side is now leading the points table with three wins from four games. One of the major concerns for them is their ailing top-order. However, the stumbling of top-order is backed and supported by the firepower performances of middle-order batters. Venkatesh Iyer though got his form back in the previous match; skipper Shreyas Iyer is yet to play his big knock. Umesh Yadav has been the backbone of their winning by being instrumental and clinical to strike wickets in the powerplay. 

Crucial match for Delhi Capitals

After a successful start to the season, the Delhi Capitals have lost their last two games and are currently in seven places with only two points in the points table. David Warner and Anrich Nortje returned to the playing XI in the previous match, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. They appeared entirely out of place and failed to contribute much with bat or ball. Prithvi Shaw played gun-blazing shots in the previous match and will look to continue his form today. The inclusion of Mitchell Marsh can be expected in Playing XI for today's game. Being an all-rounder, he will increase the team's batting depth and contribute with the ball. Skipper Rishabh Pant is expected to be more proactive with his bat and captaincy skills to produce a positive result against robust Kolkata Knight Riders. This match is crucial for Delhi Capitals, and they leave no stone unturned to register a second win for this season.

Head-to-Head record

KKR leads DC 16-12 in the IPL after 29 matches, with one match ending in a No Result.

They've met seven times in the last three seasons, with DC leading by 4-3. They also won a match via super over against KKR in the 2019 season.

This will be their first encounter at the Brabourne Stadium, where they have played other clubs in the past.

Pitch Report

Gujarat Titans scored a massive run chase in the previous game at Brabourne Stadium, and the pitch has been great for batting so far. The captains may be tempted to bat first because the dew effect is unlikely to affect the day game. However, if they kept following the toss trend, they might opt to chase. 

Predicted Probable XI

The team looks solid after the arrival of Pat Cummins, and Kolkata is likely to go with an unchanged playing 11.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Rasikh Dar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mustafizur Rahman

Key Battles

A Kolkatta Knight Riders against Delhi Capitals matchup often results in intriguing player clashes, and this time is no exception. The contest between Venkatesh Iyer and Mustafizur Rahman would be interesting to witness. The clash between Sunil Narine and Rishabh Pant will also impact the outcome of this match.

The former champions have looked like a cohesive unit capable of tackling all situations. Kolkata Knight Riders clearly have the edge over Delhi Capitals. Still, we can expect a thrilling match as Prithvi Shaw is in top-notch form and we have already witnessed some extraordinary all-round performances from Lalit Yadav, who is delivering consistently, be it with bat or ball.