Last Updated on 6 years by Charbel Coorey
Eden Gardens.
Gautam Gambhir returns to his former home where he led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles. He now returns with the aim of consigning his former side to three consecutive losses, while picking up two consecutive wins with his new team, Delhi Daredevils. His direct opponent, Dinesh Karthik, will be under a little bit of pressure to get KKR back on track, after two defeats that could have been wins had things been done differently, such as keeping Vinay Kumar till the end against CSK.
Kolkata Knight Riders are perhaps still a little unsure of their best combinations. Sunil Narine is probably best utilised at the opening spot, where he can look to hit out or get out, but what about Shubman Gill? Would it be worth opening with Narine and Gill, and move Chris Lynn to three? Perhaps not, as KKR would want Chris Lynn to be out there when the ball is at its hardest, but Shubman Gill is potentially wasted down the order. Containing the smallest squad out of all teams in IPL 2018, it is important KKR get the best out of all their players.
Delhi Daredevils conquered the Wankhede the other day, in one of the finest wins so far in IPL 2018. They were staring a possible target of 220+ right in the face, and managed to restrict Mumbai Indians below 200. Trent Boult was superb in his last two overs, conceding just seven runs in both the 18th and 20th overs, with two wickets. The selection of Jason Roy proved to be a masterstroke, hitting an amazing 91* off 53 balls in the Mumbai humidity to lead his side to a last ball victory. That was a huge confidence boosting victory for DD – can they make it two out of two on the road against Mumbai and Kolkata, arguably two of the toughest road trips in IPL?
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| KKR have team balance issues, but perhaps not like RCB… |
Key to a Kolkata Knight Riders win
Another 10-15 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad could have made things quite interesting.
Only Chris Lynn managed to get going somewhat, with only three players reaching double figures in their score of 138/8. Out of these three, only Lynn managed to have a strike rate of over 120, with Nitish Rana striking at 112.50 and Dinesh Karthik hitting 29 at 107.40.
More is needed from their top order, and this starts with identifying their best line up with the resources they have. There have been too many low digit scores, and had it not been for Andre Russell’s 88* off 36 balls v CSK, KKR could have had two lowish scores in a row. More is required from the strike players at the top.
Key to a Delhi Daredevils win
Delhi had a bit of a shaky start to IPL 2018, but that win over Mumbai would have raised confidence significantly.
The addition of Jason Roy has added some awesome punch to the DD batting line up, which already consists of the likes of Rishabh Pant and Glenn Maxwell, all wonderful strikers of the ball. In this game, can the DD players cope with KKR’s bowling attack in home conditions? A lot of the emphasis for KKR could be to take pace off the ball, and it will be interesting to see if DD can get their striking going.
Also, with Chris Morris reportedly out of the Mumbai game with illness, DD could have even more quality if he returns, as he has proven to be a fine player in IPL. DD look well balanced, and if they can target the KKR top order, as well as fire with the bat, two wins in a row is in the waiting.
Predicted teams
Conundrum for KKR – how does the make up of their team look? Shubman Gill seemed to struggle in the previous game, batting nine balls for three batting all the way down at seven. If he is to play, is it worth placing him at three or four? I expect KKR to shift Narine back to opener, with Uthappa back at three, and Shubman Gill to remain in the middle order.
Kolkata Knight Riders XI: 1. Chris Lynn, 2. Sunil Narine, 3. Robin Uthappa, 4. Nitish Rana, 5. Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), 6. Shubman Gill, 7. Andre Russell, 8. Shivam Mavi, 9. Mitchell Johnson, 10. Piyush Chawla, 11. Kuldeep Yadav
For DD, the only change could be Chris Morris coming in for Dan Christian.
Delhi Daredevils XI: 1. Jason Roy, 2. Gautam Gambhir (c), 3. Rishabh Pant (wk), 4. Glenn Maxwell, 5. Shreyas Iyer, 6. Vijay Shankar, 7. Chris Morris, 8. Rahul Tewatia, 9. Shahbaz Nadeem, 10. Mohammed Shami, 11. Trent Boult
Stats and Facts:
- Head-to-Head: Matches: 19, KKR: 12, DD: 7. At Eden Gardens, KKR have won six of seven meetings against DD.
- Sunil Narine needs just one wicket to reach 100 IPL wickets. He will become the first overseas spinner to achieve this.
- Dinesh Karthik (now captain of KKR) spent four seasons at DD (08, 09, 10, 14) and Gautam Gambhir (now captain of DD) was captain of KKR between 2011 and 2017.
- Chris Lynn struggles against left-arm spin. In IPL cricket, he has played seven games where he has faced a left-arm spinner, dismissed four times.
- Glenn Maxwell has been dismissed for 20 or less in 68% of his innings since making three 80+ scores in 2014.
Prediction:
DD are on a high, and look a more settled team than KKR do. Despite KKR possessing a good home record against DD, I expect DD to back up their great win in Mumbai with another here.
