The Delhi Capitals play the Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, April 29, start time 7:30 PM. As with all IPL Group matches this year, it will be held at a neutral venue and in this case, will be played in Ahmedabad.
For IPL betting 2021, you will find the best DC v KKR winner predictions and betting tips here!
Delhi suffered a tight defeat against RCB on Tuesday night which stopped them while they were on an excellent run. But it’s not a defeat they should get too upset about it. On another night the men at the crease- Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer- could have finished the job rather than failing just one run short.
I’ve been saying it already for a while but they should consider dropping Steve Smith. He’s so far only scored 90 runs in four innings and just doesn’t look in good touch. They could then bring in Sam, Billings to play as a finisher and promote Hetmyer- excellent against RCB with 53 from 25- up the order.
Marcus Stoinis isn’t having a great time, either. They could leave him out for a game with Chris Woakes offering more with the ball while also being a decent batsman. But Stoinis is a real favourite of coach Ricky Ponting and should get at least one more chance.
A much-needed win from Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday against Punjab will leave them feeling a lot better about life. They were very good in the field in restricting Punjab to a low total and though there were some hiccups in the chase, they ultimately got it done thanks to a very mature innings from skipper Eoin Morgan.
The four overseas players they fielded in that match- Morgan, Russell, Narine and Cummins- are just about the four they prefer to play so they should feature once again. But Russell doesn’t look fully fit and may sit out a game for some rest at some stage.
They’ll be pleased that Rahul Tripathi is now getting some runs at number three. They’ll be desperate to win this match, have some momentum and see their name move up the table.
We’ve so far had two matches here with quite different outcomes: the first was a low-scoring game on a tricky pitch won by KKR, the second a high-scoring one where batting looked easier.
On both occasions the side batting first won but two games is a pretty small sample.
Ultimately, the decision as to whether to bat or bowl may come down to how much dew there is around. If there’s lots, they’ll look to bat second, which is what KKR prefer to do anyway.
As for DC, they’ve lost one batting first and another one chasing so it’s hard to know what skipper Pant would rather do.
DC v KKR Head-to-Head
This is one of the more fiercely-contested rivalries in the IPL and one that has seen things be pretty level over the years.
It’s 14-11 for KKR though Delhi have slightly had the upper hand recently, winning three of the last four. There have actually been 26 matches between these two with two no-results.
Toss Winne
It literally couldn’t be any tighter in terms of toss wins. But I’ll go with Delhi Capitals to win the toss.
Delhi get the vote here. They’ve been more consistent so far and on another day could be top of the table had they marginally beaten RCB. They do admittedly have two problems to solve.
How best to replace Ravi Ashwin, absent for the time being, and how best to use their overseas resources as discussed in the team news section.
But I prefer their team, it looks more balanced and despite their riches in terms of batting resources, KKR always look like they could collapse with the bat.
Openers Rana and Gill have had a hard time of it of late. Morgan played that good knock to win the match the other day but that was his first decent contribution, too.
Sunil Narine is deployed as a pinch-hitter, Dinesh Karthik hasn’t been at his best while Andre Russell often bats too low down and doesn’t face many balls.
All of which leaves the consistent Tripathi. He scored 36 and 41 in his last two matches and batting at three, will have a good chance at good odds.
This is a really good opportunity to back a fine player at very high odds.
Hetmyer missed out on top scoring last time simply because Pant had the strike for the last two balls. Up to that point, he had played a wonderful innings and as discussed above, may well get a promotion to number four or five on the back of it.
Another display of hard-hitting like the one the other day and he can come good for us at really big odds.
Delhi v Kolkata Fun Statistics
Tripathi hit six sixes in an over on two separate occasions in local Indian cricket.
Andre Russell is a two-time T20 World Cup winner; Sunil Narine has won it once.
Pat Cummins has over 300 international wickets across all formats.
Against RCB, Hetmyer hit four sixes but non-one else in the side hit any at all.
