The Delhi Capitals (DC) will play the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 41 of IPL 2022, on 28 April at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai
Hopes of both teams making the playoffs are starting to fade, as they are becoming detached from the top four on the points table. This is particularly true for Kolkata, who have played a game more, and have lost their last four matches. Delhi, on the other hand, are struggling for consistency, and unable to put any sort of winning run together.
In terms of head-to-head record between these two sides, there have been 30 previous meetings. Kolkata have won 16 matches and Delhi 13, while one match ended in a no-result.
Delhi will be boosted by the return of head coach Ricky Ponting, who had been forced to watch their defeat to the Rajasthan Royals from quarantine after coming into contact with somebody suspected of having COVID-19. In his absence, Delhi lost their heads over a no-ball controversy after a high full toss that saw captain Rishabh Pant being fined 100% of his match fee, and assistant coach Pravin Amre served a one match ban.
Pant, in particular, will need to learn greater maturity if he is to become an effective captain, and will also need to show with the bat what has made him such an effective performer for India in the past two years.
Delhi have a strong bowling attack, but they had a match to forget against the Royals, and were the latest team to be on the wrong end of a Jos Buttler century. They need to put that out of their minds and concentrate on the task before them.
Kolkata, meanwhile, just cannot seem to get the balance right in their team, and their batting has proved to be a weakness. Captain Shreyas Iyer keeps promising that it is only a matter of time, but the long-suffering supporters are beginning to run out of patience. At the same time, any team boasting of Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell always has a chance.
Likely XIs:
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Rovman Powell, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Khaleel Ahmed.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Sam Billings (wk), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy.
Fantasy tips:
• After scoring three successive fifties, Warner faltered against the Royals. This will be a good opportunity to get back among the runs.
• Pant will be under the spotlight after his last outing. He needs to have a good game with the bat and as captain as well.
• Back Cummins to come good after a string of ordinary performances with ball.
Prediction:
It may be a case of too little too late, but if Delhi still want to be involved in the playoffs, this is a must win match for them.
Streaming
‘Match 41 between DC and KKR will start at 19:30 on Thursday, April 28th. You can watch the match on the Star Network and Hotstar.