High-flying Delhi Capitals face rejuvenated Kolkata Knight Riders on a tricky wicket in the first match of the doubleheader on Tuesday. A must-win for KKR

Overview
Unfortunately for KKR, Andre Russell will miss out due to a hamstring injury. Shakib-Al-Hassan comes in as a reinforcement for the big Jamaican all-rounder. Marcus Stoinis will miss out after picking up a niggle against SRH. Lalit Yadav will continue batting at no six as a specialist batsman. The two teams have collided against each other on 27 occasions. KKR lead the tie by 14 wins, whereas DC has won 12 matches.
Stats that Matter
DC this season has scored 1618 runs, out of which the Top three batters have scored 1038.
This season, DC’s average Power Play score has been 46 runs for 1 wicket, whereas on average, they have managed 47 runs in the final five overs of their innings.
6 out of 8 wins for the Delhi Capitals have come while chasing a target.
Considering the Delhi Capitals will fit in five left-handed batters, Sunil Narine becomes an essential weapon in KKR’s armour. Narine recently took his 150th wicket in the purple and gold jersey.
Varun Chakravarthy has emerged as a dominant prospect bowling in the Power Play at an economy of 6.4 and during the death overs at an economy of 6.9.
Delhi Capitals (DC)
The Capitals had a dominating win against KKR in the previous fixture, which was played on a turning wicket in Ahmedabad. This season whenever the top 3 batsmen have failed, the average score has been below 150. Pant & Co this season have lost 38 wickets, out of which fast/seam bowlers picked up 32 wickets. In return, they have picked up a whopping 61 wickets, out of which 41 have been picked up by fast bowlers, whereas spinners have picked 20.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
The DC opening duo has struggled in the UAE, with their highest Partnership being 25 runs. Bowling Sunil Narine against Shikhar Dhawan will seem to be a good option as Narine has conceded 69 runs off 64 balls and has picked his wicket twice in the last four innings. Shubman Gill’s transformation has been one of the keys to KKR’s success. Gill has scored 30 % of his runs in bounders high up the order, which has improved KKR’s net run rate during the Power Play overs.
Pitch Report
Sharjah is associated with high-scoring matches with a flat batting deck and short boundaries; however, the No 3 wicket at this venue has been a real struggle for the batters. Last season this wicket produced a couple of low-scoring matches with an average score of 120 runs. The last couple of games here have produced an average total. It’s essential for the two sides to understand and predict the nature of the wicket and accordingly pick their playing eleven. I feel it will be a good toss to lose.
Clean Hitters
Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, and Shimron Hetmyer
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, and Dinesh Karthik
Death Over Bowlers
Delhi Capitals: Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Avesh Khan
Kolkata Knight Riders: Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, and Varun Chakravarthy
5 Must-Have players in your fantasy team
Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Kagiso Rabada, and Shreyas Iyer
Fantasy League Disclaimer
All our selections are based on in-depth and astute analysis of the players partaking in the match, pitch report and a perusal of other reasoning. Please incorporate a slew of factors while crafting your own side with this article serving as a guide to the match and players.
Commentaires