The Game:
Today’s second match of the day will see inconsistent Delhi face off against confident Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata from 8.00 PM. Delhi Daredevils lost their previous match against Mumbai by 5 wickets and Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers by a big margin. Delhi will be looking to get important points to have a chance of making in the playoffs while Kolkata will make the life of Delhi Daredevils very tough.
Previous Year Clashes:
The first time they met last year was on 19th April at Dubai. It was high scoring match. Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bat. Kolkata got off to worst possible start losing Kallis to very first ball. Soon, Gambhir too got out for 0. Manish Pandey and Uthappa put a 64 runs third wicket stand which steadied the innings. Manish Pandey scored 48 and Uthappa scored 55. At the end Shakib Al Hasan scored a vital 30 runs to help KKR post 166 for 5 in 20 overs. While chasing Delhi lost an early wicket of Vijay. Mayank Aggarwal scored 26 quick runs. At the end of 7 overs, Delhi were 60 for 3 wickets. Karthik and Duminy steadied the innings with important 50’s. Karthik was out for 56 but Duminy 52 ensured that Delhi Daredevils won the match. Delhi Daredevils won the match by 4 wickets with 3 balls to spare.
After 18 days they met again but this time in Delhi. It was good scoring match. Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to bat. Delhi Daredevils lost 2 early wickets at the score of 26. Dinesh Karthik and Duminy again steadied the innings with a good partnership. Karthik scored 36 while Duminy remained not out on 40. Kedar Jadhav scored a vital 26 runs to help Delhi post 160 for 5 in 20 over’s. While chasing KKR openers Uthappa and Gambhir started off to great start putting 106 runs for the first wicket and ensured KKR won the match. Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by 8 wickets with 10 balls to spare.
Key Players:
Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa looked good in the previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He and Gambhir gave the team a flying start. Uthappa needs to convert small scores into big ones. In the previous match he scored 30 off 27 balls. In today’s match the opener must get a good score for the team if they have to put pressure on Delhi Daredevils’ bowling.
Brad Hogg
At the age of 44, Brad Hogg has performed brilliantly with ball. In the previous match against Sunrisers he bowled 4 overs and conceded only 17 runs taking 2 wickets. He has been difficult to read and has created pressure on batsmen, not allowing playing strokes freely. Against Delhi Daredevils he will be an important player and if the pitch helps the spinners then he can be a dangerous bowler to face.
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh came back to form in the previous match against Mumbai Indians. When wickets were failing at the other end he came and steadied the innings. He played some excellent strokes and scored 57 off 41 balls. Against KKR he needs to perform to ensure that Delhi has a chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
Nathan Coulter-Nile
Nathan Coulter Nile did bowl well against Mumbai Indians. He bowled stump and also picked wickets at the start. In the death over’s he was not able to bowl yorker’s and conceded too many runs. Against KKR he needs to create pressure on the batsmen by swinging the ball and bowling stump to stump.