IPL 2019, KKR vs DC: Top five player battles to watch out for in Kolkata

Here’s a look at the top five player battles to watch out for in the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals.

Swashbuckling Andre Russell’s big-hitting prowess will be pitted against Kagiso Rabada’s inch-perfect yorkers for the second time when Kolkata Kight Riders face Delhi Capitals in a return-leg fixture of the IPL in Kolkata on Friday.

File image of Rishabh Pant. (PTI)

Away from the match, the spotlight will also fall on where former KKR and India captain Sourav Ganguly sits during the match. Ganguly will be a ‘visitor’ at his ‘home’ ground of Eden Gardens as he is currently donning the advisor’s hat in the Delhi franchise, which has drawn ‘conflict-of-interest’ charges against him.

Second in the IPL table with eight points from six matches, KKR’s season so far has been a Russell show with the Jamaican amassing 257 runs from five innings, out of which 150 have come in sixes alone.

Tasked to defend 11 runs in the Super Over, Rabada was smashed for a four by Russell in the first ball, but returned strongly to uproot the middle stump with an inch-perfect yorker, something Ganguly has termed as the “ball of the tournament”.

While KKR will look to avenge their first leg defeat, Delhi, who have six points from as many matches, will be looking for their fourth win of the league to return to top-five.

Here’s a look at the top five player battles to watch out for in the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals.

Prithvi Shaw vs Piyush Chawla

The Kolkata Knight Riders are a spin heavy team and therefore Prithvi Shaw even as an opening batsman will have to expect facing spin early on in his innings. It will be interesting to see how Prithvi takes on Chawla as he has batted at a high strike rate against the leg-spinner, but has been dismissed once by Chawla in the IPL. Shaw has scored 25 runs off 20 balls against Chawla in the cash-rich league.

Rishabh Pant vs Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav will be fancying his chances against Rishabh Pant in the IPL as he has a good record against the Delhi batsman. The chinaman bowler has dismissed Pant twice in just nine balls in the Indian Premier League. Pant has managed only nine runs against Kuldeep. Will Pant try to play out the wrist spinner or will he bat aggressively? We will have to wait and see.

Shikhar Dhawan vs Sunil Narine

Shikhar Dhawan and Sunil Narine have had an interesting contest in the IPL so far. Dhawan has scored 49 runs off 49 balls against the spinner, while has fallen twice to the West Indian in the competition. Dhawan will surely be cautious in his approach when he faces Narine on Friday, but the spinner has the skills to take Dhawan’s wicket once again.

Andre Russell vs Axar Patel

Andre Russell has been in terrific form in this IPL and he will surely be looking to take on Axar Patel. The West Indian has smashed the spinner all over the park in the competition. Russell has scored 47 runs off 21 balls against Axar. However, the spinner has dismissed Russell once in the IPL and he will certainly looking to improve his record against the KKR batsman.

Robin Uthappa vs Amit Mishra

Robin Uthappa has to work out a good plan for facing Amit Mishra. The KKR batsman has struggled against the spinner, getting out four times. Uthappa has been hitting the ball well, but hasn’t been able to convert most of his starts in this IPL. The 33-year-old will be certainly looking to make a statement against Mishra and notch a big score against Delhi.

(With inputs from agencies)