Delhi Capitals look to arrest slide, face desperate KKR

Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders may be separated on the IPL points table, however, both go into Tuesday’s match looking to iron out inconsistencies that are threatening to unravel their seasons.

Delhi under new captain Axar Patel began the IPL season by racking up four wins in a row but now have hit a patch where they cannot stitch two wins in a row. The city team has now lost three of its last five, including a six-wicket thumping it had to endure against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday.

Not only this, the conservative approach from the batters in the last match, including their top scorer KL Rahul who scored almost a run-a-ball 41 off 39, did not help the team’s cause.

Up against defending champions KKR, the home team would be looking to arrest the slide on a pitch that looked tricky. DC failed to score boundaries against spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma. Besides, the team is finding it hard to support Rahul as first Jake Fraser-McGurk and now Faf du Plessis, who came back to the playing XI, have struggled for runs.

Only opener Abhishek Porel, who scored an 11-ball 28 and Tristan Stubbs, who scored 34, looked for quick runs as everyone shut shop.

KKR’s bowling, including their spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, pose a bigger threat than the likes of Krunal and Suyash.

However, the game is a perfect opportunity for Delhi to get their campaign back on track, as KKR are struggling to stay in the fray for the playoffs. The Kolkata team is languishing seventh on the table and has failed to register a win in its last three matches.

Like Delhi, the KKR team’s Achilles heel is its misfiring middle order, where established stars such as Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell have failed to contribute with big scores.

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