The second leg of UAE has thrown up big surprises. Kolkata Knight Riders have staged a wonderful comeback in UAE. Their resurgence has caught the rest of the teams off guard. Delhi despite being the table-toppers start underdogs in the 2nd qualifier against KKR. lets analyse more about DC vs KKR match.

DC vs KKR: Form preview

Delhi’s daredevilry in IPL:

Delhi Capitals were the table-toppers at the end of the league phase in IPL 2021. They became the only team in the history of the IPL to complete a double-over both Chennai and Mumbai in the league stage. DC though have gone on to lose two close games subsequently one in the league stage and the other in the first qualifier. Their batting lineup wears a thin look as compared to the other two teams in contention for the trophy. DC have sorely missed the services of Marcus Stoinis whose absence has thrown apart their team balance.

A lot will again ride on the shoulders of DC’s Indian batting core to deliver. Shikhar Dhawan has gone off the boil a bit, DC will need him to fire big time. It is a straight contest between DC’s batters vs KKR’s spinners. 

KKR gunning for glory:

Kolkata Knight Riders have set the UAE leg on fire with a string of impressive performances. They have won 6 out of their 8 games here in the UAE. Their strong net run-rate helped them edge over Mumbai Indians to qualify for the playoffs. They put a clinical performance in the eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore to march head in the playoffs.

KKR have been the form team in this leg. They started their UAE campaign with a bang winning back-to-back games over RCB and MI. KKR even defeated DC in the reverse fixture in the UAE. Their mystery spin duo have wreaked havoc in the middle-overs. Sunil Narine virtually won the eliminator all on his own for KKR. They look in some form.

DC vs KKR: Favourites?

Delhi are coming off from two close defeats. A win in the last game would have directly taken them into the finals. But now they have been destined to take the longer route of playing the 2nd qualifier. Their task is a monumental one as they are up against arguably one of the best form teams of the tournament. KKR having already played in Sharjah start heavy favourites in this game.

Which players will be match-winners in this game?

Prithvi Shaw will fancy his chances against KKR’s bowling attack. He has a strike rate of 175+ in the powerplay this season which is better than any other batsman.

Sunil Narine has a great match-up against Delhi and KKR will count on his experience.

X-factor player:

Anrich Nortje has troubled a lot of batsman in the IPL. He might prove to be too good for KKR’s top-order.

Varun Chakravarthy might prove to be KKR’s trump card in this game.

Probable Playing XI:

Delhi Capitals predicted XI:

Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Steve Smith/Lalit Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan

Kolkata Knight Riders predicted XI:

Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine,  Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy

What do stats say about DC vs KKR?

DC and KKR have played 28 IPL games against each other.

DC has won 12 matches. KKR has won 15 games. 

DC’s highest score against KKR is 228. KKR’s highest score against DC is 210. 

DC’s lowest score against KKR is 98. KKR’s lowest score against DC is 97. 

Pitch:

Sharjah pitch has behaved strangely. It hasn’t been a true surface. Batsmen have failed to get going. Teams will find it difficult to chase a par score in these conditions.

Weather Report:

A high of 37 degrees and a low of 27 degrees is expected. There are no chances of rain. This being a day game there won’t be any dew.

Ground stats:

Teams batting first have won 60% of the games at this venue. But of late owing to the dew, teams have preferred chasing at this venue. This season the average scores have come down drastically. A score of around 150+ will be challenging at Sharjah.

StumpsandBails verdict:

It is a battle between DC’s resolve and KKR’s resurgence. We believe KKR has an edge in this game.