IPL 2020: KKR vs DC Game Plan 1 – Bowl Lockie Ferguson early and target Dhawan and Iyer

The 42nd match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals, could all be about match-ups. Here, we take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the 42nd game of IPL 2020 – KKR vs DC.

KKR vs DC: Use pace and spin effectively against Shikhar Dhawan early on

In spite of the loss against Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals have done very well this year to occupy the second position in the points table with 14 points from ten matches. While the bowling attack has been superb for them, the duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer have been fantastic too. Dhawan, in particular, is in red-hot form with his last four scores being 106*, 101*, 57 and 69*.

KKR vs DC – Stopping Dhawan

With the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant not being at their best, the onus has been on Dhawan to bat long and hard in the last few matches. So, the experienced southpaw will definitely be a big fish for Kolkata Knight Riders in this match.

So, how do you dismiss Dhawan? The opener has been flawless against most types of bowling in this IPL but fast bowlers and leg-spinners have had pretty good success against him so far. So, a mix of Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy and Pat Cummins/Sunil Narine could do the trick for KKR. It must be noted that even in the last meeting between the two teams at Sharjah, it was Varun who dismissed Dhawan after deceiving him with clever variations. Even Kuldeep Yadav has a pretty successful record against both Dhawan and Rishabh Pant in the IPL. So it remains to be seen if he is given an early over at Dhawan or is solely held back to tackle Pant.

KKR will also have their eyes on Shreyas Iyer who has been Delhi’s second-best batsman so far with 335 runs from ten matches. It is a well-known fact that Iyer is superb against spin but Varun could still be a handy option due to his mystery aspect. Hard lengths at pace have also been troublesome for Iyer over over a long period.

KKR vs DC: Getting rid of red hot Iyer

A lot will depend upon whether Sunil Narine and Andre Russell are fit as it could mean Pat Cummins might be the one to be left out along with Tom Banton and that could change the match-ups quite a bit. KKR would also need to get off to a better start with the ball as they have been quite poor during the Powerplay just like the two seasons. In fact, they have been the worst side in the first six overs when it comes to both picking up wickets and also containing the runs. So, it would be wise to do something different and bowl a combination of pace and spin like suggested above.

KKR would also need to stop being rigid with data as they possibly avoided bowling Lockie Ferguson in the Powerplay against RCB in the last game due to his past record in the IPL. The Kiwi pacer had bowled better during the middle-overs in his IPL career but he is a much improved bowler now who has probably looked like KKR’s best weapon too. At any cost, KKR have to strike early and restrict Delhi within 160 as anything above that will be really tough to chase against a strong bowling attack.

ALSO READ: KXIP vs SRH Game Plan – Attack the part-timers and KKR vs DC  Game Plan 2 – Gill down, Banton up