In Match 47 of the 2024 Indian Premier League season, the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders and Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals will square off at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Monday.
KKR is positioned second in the points table with five wins in eight games. As evidenced by the four 220+ totals they have scored so far in the IPL 2024, KKR’s batting has been their biggest strength.
DC, currently fifth in the points table, has won 5 out of 10 matches but struggled with their bowling, conceding totals above 230 runs three times already this season.
What has happened so far?
In IPL 2024, DC started inconsistently, winning only one of their first five matches. However, they bounced back, having won four of their last five games but the Pant-led side has to steer clear of more setbacks to increase their chance of finishing in the top four.
In their most recent game against the Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the hosts emerged victorious by 10 runs in a high-scoring thriller.
Jake Fraser-McGurk’s scorching inning of 84 runs off just 27 balls, combined with quick runs from the middle order, helped the Capitals set a gigantic target of 257 runs for GT. DC’s bowlers maintained composure at the decisive moment to help the team cross the finish line.
Conversely, KKR had an excellent start to the season, winning four of their first five games but ended up losing two of their last three games by small margins.
During their most recent encounter with the Punjab Kings, their batters once again displayed incredible intent and put up a mammoth target of 262 runs. In response, PBKS won with eight balls remaining and made a record chase in T20 cricket history.
Head to Head Record
Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders have competed in 33 IPL matches. While DC has won 15 of these 33 games, while KKR has won 17 with one fixture ending without a result.
On home soil, KKR have dominated DC, as they have won six out of their eight encounters in Kolkata, while DC has been able to win only two of those encounters.
The game between DC and KKR earlier in the season ended with the Knight Riders winning swiftly by 106 runs. In the game played at Visakhapatnam, with Sunil Narine’s 85-run scorching innings and the explosive knocks from the middle-order batters, KKR amassed 272 runs, which is the third-highest team total in IPL history.
DC’s top order crumbled in response, and by the end of the powerplay, they were four wickets down. With the exception of Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs’ innings, no other batter was able to score big runs, and they ultimately suffered a crushing loss.
Key Players
Sunil Narine has been in terrific form in the IPL 2024 so far
Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders): Sunil Narine is sixth on the list of IPL 2024’s top run scorers with 357 runs at an incredible strike rate of 184.02. He is enjoying an excellent season not only with the bat but also with the ball. Over the span of eight innings, he has claimed ten wickets at an economy rate of just 6.96.
Narine is getting great support from his opening partner, Phil Salt who has scored 324 runs at a brilliant strike rate of 176.09, and the opening duo would once again be looking forward to taking on the DC bowling attack.
Jake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi Capitals): The young Australian Jake Fraser-McGurk will be the focal point of the game yet again. With three quick half-centuries for the Delhi-based franchise, he has already proven his ability to cleanly strike the ball from the word go.
He has made an indelible mark with his aggressive batting style, amassing 247 runs at an amazing strike rate of 237.50 in just five games. His knack for scoring runs quickly again will be very crucial to DC in establishing another huge total on that.
Team News from Both Camps
Dushmantha Chameera stepped in for Mitchell Starc against PBKS, with Starc reportedly recovering from a finger injury suffered in the match against RCB. There is no confirmation on whether he will be available or not for the match against DC.
Ishant Sharma and David Warner continued to be unavailable for their last match against MI as they are still recovering from their respective injuries. Meanwhile, Gulbadin Naib of Afghanistan has been brought in by DC to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh for the remainder of the IPL season.
Predicted XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer ©, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Dushmantha Chameera, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana
Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant © (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kushagra, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Lizaad Williams, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed
Prediction
After a tough loss to PBKS, KKR will be looking to turn things around, while the Capitals will be trying to keep the winning momentum going.
With KKR having a slight edge in head-to-head clashes, they aim to continue their dominance at home against DC. The game on Monday in Kolkata is highly anticipated to be an exciting match.