IPL 2020: Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders – Probable playing XI and team news
IPL 2020’s first doubleheader will see the Delhi Capitals (DC) take on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the evening game at Sharjah. While Delhi Capitals will be looking to make amends for their poor show with the bat while chasing a moderate target of 163 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders will be flying high after their convincing victory against the Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.
DC and KKR played out a thrilling super over at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi last year after both teams finished with 185 runs each in the first of the two contests between the two sides, with DC coming out on top after Kagiso Rabada produced a masterclass on bowling yorkers while defending an 11-run target, knocking Andre Russell’s middle stump out in the process. DC triumphed in the return fixture at the Eden Gardens as well, chasing down a target of 179 with 7 wickets and balls remaining largely thanks to an unbeaten knock of 97 from Shikhar Dhawan and 46 from Rishabh Pant.
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DC v KKR: Head-To-Head
KKR enjoy a lead of 13 wins to 10 in the 24 clashes so far against DC, with a solitary game being washed out in the inaugural season. DC have done a good job in reducing the margin of the lead for KKR in the previous five games between the two teams, winning 3 out of them, including the double last year.
Team News – Delhi Capitals (DC)
Capitals bowling coach Ryan Harris had confirmed that Ravichandran Ashwin had recovered from his shoulder injury suffered in the first game and had a complete training session ahead of today’s game. In case they want to avail his services, DC will have to make a tough call on benching either one of Axar Patel or Amit Mishra to accommodate the off-spinner, with Mishra being the likelier candidate to miss out despite performing considerably well.
Probable XI: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma
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Team News – Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Although KKR would not want to alter their winning combination, they could consider playing a specialist batsman at the top along with Shubman Gill instead of Suni Narine, whose usage as a pinch-hitter hasn’t brought much success to KKR. But with the smaller boundaries and flat Sharjah pitch, they are likely to give the Trinidadian one more opportunity.
Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy