New Delhi, Apr 28: Delhi Capitals (DC) will be looking to rebound from their loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) when they face an erratic defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday evening.

With just a day’s break, apart from focusing on their recovery processes, DC have a lot to think in terms of improving their top-order returns and batting against spinners at home. Against RCB, Abishek Porel was at his sublime best in timing, but couldn’t convert it into a big score yet again. It also didn’t help DC that Faf du Plessis was rusty on his return from a groin injury and Karun Nair fell cheaply.

Though DC have benefitted from batters stepping up on different occasions, they need to rectify their game-plan of facing spinners. On a two-paced pitch, DC just couldn't get going against the RCB spin duo of Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma, who were relentless in bowling stump to stump line and didn’t give any breathing space, as they gave away only 50 runs in their eight combined overs.

The duo getting grip from the pitch also meant someone like KL Rahul wasn’t at his aggressive best and had to play as per the conservative path. As per statistics from Cricket-21, DC have lost 23 wickets to spinners in the tournament so far, which is joint second alongside RCB on a list led by Chennai Super Kings (26), with the average standing at 29.78.

Though their strike-rate of 155 is the second-best after Gujarat Titans and run-rate against spinners stand at 9.3, which is joint second-best with Lucknow Super Giants, that hasn’t really translated into dominating wins for DC at Kotla, where pitches have shown characteristics of its pre-2024 season days.

With DC fortunately ahead of KKR in the race to the playoffs, they need to devise ways of solving this issue of batting against spinners and ensure being outclassed by MI and RCB spinners at Kotla is anything but mere aberration.

In terms of bowling, apart from Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav at their frugal best, DC can also have a relook at their bowling plans. Not bowling Mitchell Starc again after end of 16th over and giving Vipraj Nigam just one over wasn’t the smartest of decision-making from slipper Axar , who was also short of options due to Mukesh Kumar being taken for runs on Sunday.

On the other hand, KKR doesn’t boast of greatest record against spinners – losing 21 wickets in eight games to them. The strike-rate (139), run-rate (8.3) and average (21.31) are also at a low. With two losses on the trot and a home match against Punjab Kings abandoned due to rain, time is running out for KKR, whose playoffs hopes are left hanging by a slim thread.

Apart from Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, KKR’s middle and lower-order batting, having the likes of Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh, hasn’t really inspired much confidence.

The side hasn’t produced a single fifty-run opening stand, which has also hurt them big time. If there is anything where KKR have found some solace, it’s in their bowlers - pacers Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora have fared well, while spinners Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine have done a tidy job.

With KKR having a 5-4 head-to-head record against DC in games at Kotla and chance for its spinners Chakaravarthy plus Narine to make merry in friendly conditions, the visitors’ will feel hopeful about bringing their campaign back on track against DC, who are aiming to get a second win at their original home venue.

When: Tuesday, April 29 at 7:30pm IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

Where to watch: Live telecast on Star Sports Network and live streaming on JioHotstar

Squads:

Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (captain), Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Mitchell Starc, Vipraj Nigam, Karun Nair, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, T. Natarajan, Darshan Nalkande, Dushmantha Chameera, Donovan Ferreira, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurana Vijay, and Madhav Tiwari.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Quinton de Kock (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, and Chetan Sakariya.

(IANS)

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