KKR vs DC Highlights, IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Delhi Capitals by three wickets

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan(c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w), Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sandeep Warrier

Tim Southee and Sandeep Warrier do make a potent bowling combination. Will they start the attack against the DC openers? It's a strong possibility. We have seen either Chakravarthy or Narine open the bowling for KKR in the past. Will KKR persist with either one of the two or introduce a fresh bowling combination?

With a packed Delhi Capitals middle order, Matthew Hayden reckons Steve Smith should open for team along with Shikhar Dhawan. With the likes of Iyer, Pant and Hetmyer already in the middle order, batting at the top will give Smith time to get himself in and accelerate accordingly. 

"We were looking to bat first anyway. We don't really know what the conditions are like. 150-160 should be good, since the wicket looks slow. We are looking to take one match at a time, and hope we can win this game and qualify for the playoffs for sure. Prithvi is injured and Steve Smith comes in, that's the only change."

Eoin Morgan: “We're bowling first. I don't know what the wicket will be like, but it's not a belter, and not too bad, so somewhere in between. Setting a score might be a challenge, so we'll try bowling. As a team we are focussed on taking it game by game. We have played good cricket in the second half and we have gone up from second-last position and we want to continue that performance. My performance has been a roller-coaster, so as long as the team is doing well. Sandeep Warrier comes in for Prasidh Krishna and Southee comes in for Andre Russell.”

The team news from Delhi Capitals is that Prithvi Shaw is injured and replacing him in the XI is Steve Smith.

We have the result of the toss. Eoin Morgan has won it and KKR will be fielding first. Southee replaces Russell and Sandeep Warrior takes the place of Prasidh Krishna in the XI.

Two minutes to go for the all-important toss. Stay tuned!

"They're trickier conditions for batting than Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In Sharjah, it's 0.75m to a meter slower, in terms of pace lost off the pitch. In the middle stages it will be hard to bat, and so expect fireworks in the powerplay. There's not a lot of grass to hold the pitch together, there are bare patches and some rolled mud. The fast bowlers will try the cross-seamers, so a few will skid off the leather, and others will take off after hitting the seam, making it difficult for the power-hitters outside the powerplay. It's a must-win for KKR, and if they are to beat a team like DC, they have to make sure their top-order performs."

When KKR and DC played at Sharjah last year, there were a total of 28 sixes hit in the game. Iyer smashed 62 while Morgan took Rabada apart. Both teams were hitting sixes for fun. With Sharjah once again hosting KKR vs DC, how many maximums do you think we'll see today?  

Visuals coming in from Sharjah show that Tim Southee has been handed his maiden KKR cap. The New Zealand pacer has played 40 IPL matches and taken 28 wickets. With no Pat Cummins, this could be the ideal chance for Southee to make a mark. It also confirms that KKR will be without Andre Russell.

50: Prasidh Krishna is 5 wickets away from completing 50 wickets across T20s.

50: Eoin Morgan is 5 sixes away from completing 50 sixes for KKR in IPL.

1: Nitish Rana is one six away from completing 150 T20 sixes

97: runs Nitish Rana needs to complete 3000 T20 runs

5: Sixes Rahul Tripathi needs to complete 50 IPL sixes

So far, in both the matches that Delhi Capitals have played, they have outperformed the opposition convincingly. KKR is the team that can test the Capitals as the race for the Playoffs intensifies. A third win from four matches would do the confidence of the Eoin Morgan-led side a world of good. What can Rishabh pant conjure against an improving KKR?

Prasidh Krishna has picked 12 wickets in 10 matches in this season and is the leading wicket taker for KKR. But his economy rate of 9.26 is the worst among all the KKR bowlers with minimum 100 overs bowled. Prasidh has struggled to bowl in the death overs as seen in the last match CSK required 26 runs in last two overs but Prasidh conceded 22 runs in the 19th.

With an injury to Marcus Stoinis, it was assumed that Steve Smith could enter the fray. But the Capitals instead went ahead with only three overseas players for their game against Rajasthan Royals. Could today mark the return of Steve Smith in the Delhi Capitals XI?

59: runs Ajinkya Rahane needs to complete 4000 IPL runs.

28: runs Dinesh Karthik Needs to complete 4000 IPL runs.

91: runs Shikhar Dhawan needs to complete 2000 IPL runs for DC.

31 & 98 runs: Eoin Morgan and Sunil Narine needs to complete 1000 IPL runs for KKR.

4: more dismissals Dinesh Karthik needs to complete 150 dismissals in IPL.

Shubman Gill hasn't had the best start in the UAE-leg of IPL 2021, managing scores of 13 and 9 against Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Morgan would be hoping for a useful knock from the young opener and if this video is anything to go by, there's no reason why that can't happen today in Sharjah.

Shreyas Iyer loves batting against KKR where he has scored 425 runs in 12 innings which is the most for him against any team in IPL. Iyer's strike rate of 156.82 vs KKR is 3rd best among all the batsman with min. 125 balls faced in IPL.

Rishabh Pant has been with Delhi Capitals since the beginning and has scored 2351 runs from 78 matches across six seasons. He is now just 32 runs away from becoming the leading scorer for the franchise. Ahead of him is DC's former captain Virender Sehwag, who has scored 2382 runs from 86 games. Given the form he is in, there is no reason as to why he can't do it today itself.

How can we not talk about Shreyas Iyer and how he's batted like a million bucks so far in IPL 2021. Initially ruled out due to a shoulder injury, Iyer began the second phase in emphatic style, with scored of 47* and 43 against SRH and Rajasthan Royals.  

In the first half, no one was familiar with the name Venkatesh Iyer. Five months later, all 8 opposition teams of KKR are planning against him. Such has been the start of his IPL career for KKR. Iyer, an IIT graduate, started off with an unbeaten 41 against RCB, before cracking his maiden IPL fifty against MI. Against CSK, Iyer looked in good nick before falling for 18. Importantly for KKR, their newest opening pair of Iyer and Shubman Gill is doing wonders. But how would they respond against DC's pace trio of Rabada, Nortje and Avesh promises to make for an intriguing contest.  

It was on April 29 earlier this year that Delhi Capitals took on Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 25 of the IPL. Prithvi Shaw had emerged Player of the Match as DC beat KKR by 7 wickets. It was the same game in which Shaw hit Shivam Mavi for six fours in an over to become only the second player after Ajinkya Rahane to do so in the IPL.

Kolkata Knight Riders and the Delhi Capitals are two of the original teams and their rivalry dates back to the first edition of the IPL back in 2008. The two teams have faced each other 26 times previously, and in terms of head-to-head battle, it's the Knight Riders, who hold the edge over the Capitals, leading 14-12. They have featured in a Super Over thriller once, in which the Capitals came out on top.

The Kolkata Knight Riders had a forgettable run in the first half of IPL 2021 in India, losing five games out of seven. They, along with SRH, were likely to be the two teams to be eliminated from the race for the playoffs. But their redemption in the second phase has been the stuff of legends, By beating teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore first and then their biggest nemesis in the Mumbai Indians, KKR have kept themselves alive. They had a chance to make it three out of three but CSK edged them in a last-over thriller. KKR may still have some work left to do but count them out at your own peril.

Long gone are the day when the Delhi Capitals were termed perennial underachievers. Since 2020, the team gas turned a new leaf and now. Last year, they reached the final of the IPL, and this year have continued from where they left off in 2020. Under Rishabh Pant, DC are making rampant strides and have been one of the two most dominating teams along with Chennai Super Kings. What a fabulous turnaround it has been. From chasing down 135 against Sunrisers Hyderabad comfortable to defending 156, the Capitals are slowly becoming unstoppable.