The Delhi Capitals (DC) haven’t done much wrong in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team, captained by Shreyas Iyer, have won seven out of their first ten matches and are one of the strongest contenders to finish as the table-toppers after the conclusion of the league stage.
In their previous game, the Capitals lost to KL Rahul’s Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) by five wickets in Dubai. They are next scheduled to lock horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday, October 24 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
In their last meeting, it was Shreyas Iyer and Co, who beat the Men in Gold and Purple. The Knights, on the other hand, are hanging in the middle of the points table. Dinesh Karthik and Co lost their previous match to RCB by eight wickets in Abu Dhabi itself.
Pitch and Conditions
The pitch in Abu Dhabi has gotten slower with time, though the batters have still found their way to score important runs. It’s a venue where the teams, batting second, have tasted quite a bit of success.
Hence, chasing may not be an overly bad decision. The conditions will be warm with the temperature around 35 degrees Celsius. The players will have to take enough fluids to beat the heat.
Playing Combinations for KKR vs DC
Kolkata Knight Riders
Probable XI
Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Tom Banton/Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy
Delhi Capitals
Probable XI
Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Shreyas Iyer (C), Marcus Stoinis, Rishabh Pant (wk), Axar Patel, Ravi Ashwin, Tushar Deshpande/Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
Probable Top Performers for KKR vs DC
Eoin Morgan– Kolkata Knight Riders
Eoin Morgan can be deemed as the most fluent batsman for KKR in the tournament. The left-hander has scored at an average in the 40s and has played at a strike-rate of 132.62.
He hasn’t scored a half-century but has chipped in with useful scores on a pretty consistent basis. Even in KKR’s last outing against DC, he scored at a strike-rate of over 200. He also needs to show his captaincy prowess.
Prithvi Shaw– Delhi Capitals
Prithvi Shaw played a couple of handy knocks in the first part of the tournament. However, to his sheer dismay, he has imploded in the last few contests. In the last four matches for the Capitals, the youngster has notched 11 runs at a disastrous average of 3.75.
He already has had six single-digit scores and that has become concerning for the Capitals. He scored 66 against KKR last time around.
KKR vs DC Head to Head
Overall
Played- 26 |KKR won- 13 | DC won- 12 | N/R- 1
At neutral venues (outside India)
Played- 5 | KKR won- 0 | DC won- 5 | N/R- 0
Average first innings score: 161 (14 matches in IPL 2020)
Record of chasing teams: Won- 7 | Lost- 7
Broadcast Details
Match timings – 02:00 PM local time, 03:30 PM IST
TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Select, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 1 Select HD, and Star Sports 1 HD Hindi.
Live Streaming – The match can be streamed online on Disney + Hotstar VIP.