Knights and Capitals hope to make their way up the points table

As IPL 2022 is slowly heading into its business end, Delhi Capitals will be taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders as both sides head into a maddening hustle to claim the all-important two points in an attempt to keep their campaign afloat.

Delhi and KKR have been sitting in the seventh and the eighth position of the points table respectively with the wins eluding them on most occasions despite coming close to the finishing line. They started their campaign on a resonating note but as the fray progressed, the imbalance in the sides started accentuating and the rifts blew open, exacerbating the campaign for both Capitals and Knights.

Delhi will be coming to this contest on the back of a narrow defeat against the Rajasthan Royals where things escalated off the pitch in the final over that also led to Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur and Praveen Amre being fined for their breach of IPL’s code of conduct.

Kolkata has been eluded by the ever-flirtatious lady luck as they bowed down to the Gujarat Titans in another closely contested encounter where their batters fell short of the stipulated total by 8 runs that came on the back of another close defeat at the hands of the Rajasthan Royals in a run-fest.

Delhi’s bowling unit has seemed fine until now but somehow their batters have failed to conjure the much-needed magic that would propel them to the hunt for the top four. For the Knights, it has been a constant misfiring from their lower middle-order where despite decent starts, they have not been converted to big ones, leaving an air of uncertainty surrounding them.

Venue Watch:

Wankhede continues to be the constant support for the batters with a flattening surface playing the perfect host to a fiesta of runs. Yesterday’s game between the Titans and the Sunrisers piled up an aggregate of 394 runs, that clearly showed signs that the surface has lost its sheen for the bowlers. It will be an intriguing contest of fine margins like the last game where Rashid Khan smacked a six off the last ball to seal the fate of the tie. 

Squads:

Delhi Capitals:

Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin Hebbar, Abhishek Sharma, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, KS Bharat, Mandeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Sarfaraz Khan.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins, Abhijeet Tomar, Sam Billings, Aaron Finch, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammed Nabi, Aman Khan, Umesh Yadav, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Chamika Karunaratne, Baba Indrajith, Ashok Sharma, Pratham Singh.

Match Details:

Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Venue: Wankhede, Mumbai

Date: 28th April 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST