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DC V/S KKR (16TH Match ): Pre-Match Analysis (Today’s Match Predictions )3rd October 2020
Head – to -Head
The Indian Premier League is set to host its first double-header this weekend and the second match will be played between the DC - Delhi and the KKR - Kolkata at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. This year, unlike their previous campaigns Delhi got off to an amazing start in the league winning their first two games before stumbling against a formidable SRH - Hyderabad. The problem with the Delhi team is that they are losing wickets cheaply by playing risky shots and are not capitalizing on decent starts even though their batting department looks good on paper. Their explosive batsman Rishab Pant is not firing like he used to and is eating up more balls than he usually does. He is one of the key players and will have to come back to his natural game. There were lots of hopes from Hetmyer, but he has been completely out of touch so far and might get replaced soon. The good news is that their bowling attack has shown a lot of promise. Nortje and Rabada have been phenomenal with their pace and have provided good starts to their team. Axar Patel and Mishra have also shown good caliber till now, so the bowling department looks sorted apart from the fact that Ishant has not been included yet.
On the other hand, Kolkata would be beaming with confidence after beating the RR - Rajasthan and the franchise would really happy after a strong comeback made by the bowling attack of the team. It is refreshing to see young Indian bowlers like Mavi, Nagarkoti and Varun join the party. When the tournament started off it looked as if the team is over-reliant on Pat Cummins, but after three games the scenario has changed for the better. They have lot to discuss when it comes to deciding their opening pair because Narine has failed to live up to expectations although we might see him opening with Gill again tonight, given the fact that the match is at Sharjah. Gill, Rana and Morgan are looking in good form. Russel is also firing sixes with his bat which is a good sign and will look to capitalize in a small ground like Sharjah. All in all this is going to be a Saturday to remember!
Pitch Conditions
The match will be played at the Sharjah Cricket stadium, UAE. Here, Teams batting first have an upper hand generally. The pitch has got good bounce, and the ball does not do much here, so both teams will look to earn some extra runs at the beginning.
Moreover, dew will also play an important factor so whoever wins the toss will look to bat first. The ground is short and has60-meter boundaries in long on and 55 meter in straight and 65-meter boundary in mid-wicket. This is good news for both teams as both teams have some really good hitters in their arsenal. This could be a high-scoring match after all.
Batting
DC :
One thing about the DC - Delhi is that there batting line-up looks strong on paper as they have four Indian batsmen in their arsenal with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane. Ajinkya has not found a place in the playing XI but may soon find a spot given his skills. Hetmyer has not looked his usual self so, he may lose out on his spot to Jason Roy. Shikhar is looking good after the last match so that’s good news. They also have a handy all-rounder in the form of Marcus Stoinis who has done phenomenally well for them in the past, so the middle-order looks sorted.
KKR :
To start off their batting order, there is Shubman Gill is looking in great touch and may turn out to be one of their highest scorers this season. Nitish Rana has been providing good support at number 3. Sunil Narine has failed to fire at the top unlike previous seasons so KKR will have to look for a formidable support at the top for Gill. Eoin Morgan has been providing good support in the middle and is capable of finishing games for them as we saw in the last match. The area of concern here is skipper Dinesh Karthik who has looked really pale in the middle, the team would want him to make a good comeback. Of course, how can we ever forget the explosive hitter Andre Russel who is their trump card as always.
Bowling
DC:
When it comes to bowling DC - Delhi is not far behind. They have got some exceptional talent in this department. Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje have done really well to keep the team afoot along with Marcus Stoinis. Amit Mishra has been refreshing to watch this season as well youngster Avesh Khan. It will be great if Ravichandran Ashwin can join the party soon. Also, it will be interesting to see if they bring in Ishant Sharma in this contest to strengthen the line-up.
KKR :
In the first match, there were a few sparks of talent from youngster Shivam Mavi, but the team looked heavily relied on Pat Cummins. However, after 3 matches it would not be wrong to say that KKR are looking really strong in their bowling department with every bowler in top form. Especially Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi and Varun Chakravarthy, all three have show exceptional performances and have proved that they are ready for the big stage. KKR has got real depth in their bowling as they have been using 7bowlers since 2 matches and guess what? its working!
History
Both the teams have played against each other on 23 occasions in the IPL so far and KKR holds a 13-9 head-to-head win record over the DC while 1 match had no result.KKR have already won two titles in the history of the league and is considered to be one of the consistent teams to qualify for the play-offs while DC - Delhi do not have anything out of the ordinary yet and they will look to change that this season. They have the team to do it, they have the most successful coach and they have a much better management this year, so fingers crossed!
Probable Playing XI :
DC :
• Shikhar Dhawan
• Prithvi Shaw
• Shreyas Iyer ( C )
• Rishabh Pant (WK )
• Marcus Stoinis
• Shimron Hetmyer
• Anrich Nortje
• Kagiso Rabada
• Amit Mishra
• Axar Patel
• Ishant Sharma
KKR :
• Shubman Gill
• Sunil Narine
• Nitish Rana
• Dinesh Karthik (WK, C )
• Eoin Morgan
• Andre Russel
• Pat Cummins
• Shivam Mavi
• Kamlesh Nagarkoti
• Kuldeep Yadav
• Varun Chakravarthy
Match Prediction
When you look at both teams on paper, DC - Delhi definitely comes out on top. Given the fact that they have all the good Indian batsmen at the top half of their batting order, and they have the bowlers to defend any score on the board. The only problem with the DC - Delhi is that the team which looking strong on the sheet is losing their wickets cheaply and are not capitalizing on good starts. They have the intent but are not showing the boldness that they need to win big games.
On the other hand, Kolkata has shown decent efforts with the bat and has proven in the past that they can win a game from any situation with a batting order that goes deep. Moreover, they have an exceptional bowling attack which is looking stronger than ever. They have what it takes to restrict DC to a small score.
Sportswhoop’s pick for tonight : KKR - Kolkata
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Disclaimer:
The predictions made above are merely based on an assumption of the author and are not a reflection of the actual points you may earn during the game
