Hello and welcome to the highlights of Match 42 between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
HIGHLIGHTS
DC 135/9 after 20 overs:
Ferguson to bowl for KKR's NRR after it plummeted in the side's dismal show in its last match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Kiwi does more than what is expected of him, taking Tushar's wicket off the penultimate ball of the match.
DC 132/8 after 19 overs: Rabada falls as Cummins gets his third. He gets a length ball on the line of Rabada's body and the Protea has holed out to Tripathi at long on. Tushar walks in.
DC 127/7 after 18 overs: Chakravarthy to bowl out. He concedes eight off this over, with Rabada hitting him for a four straight down the ground, and finishes with 4-0-20-5
DC 119/7 after 17 overs: Ashwin has hit this shorter ball off Cummins hard towards midwicket to claim a boundary. Delhi needs 76 runs from three overs and the contest is all but over.
DC 112/7 after 16 overs: And Chakravarthy continues to put Delhi to the sword. The spinner is extracting some turn off the surface and that has been troubling batsmen. Stoinis gets dismissed in a similar fashion - tries to go for the big shot and an edge sees Tripathi, with one of the safest pair of hands in the park, hold on to another. The final strategic timeout has been taken, following which KG walks in. And kaboom! Chakravarthy has just claimed the first five-for of this season with a googly to disturb Axar's furniture. This is his maiden five-for and also the best bowling performance in an innings in IPL 2020 with the Tamil Nadu spinner yet to bowl another over. His figures read 3-0-12-5, thus far.
DC 110/5 after 15 overs: Narine to try and unsettle the two new batsmen at the crease. Axar Patel, however, unperturbed, goes for a maximum over deep midwicket. Also, Delhi enters triple figures.
DC 99/5 after 14 overs: Chakravarthy doing the magic for KKR at Zayed! Hetmyer departs first and Iyer follows him right back to the dugout off the very next ball. The West Indies hard-hitter got an edge, which carried to Tripathi at long on. Iyer misfired to hand Nagarkoti a comfortable take in the same zone.
DC 94/3 after 13 overs: Tripathi dashes in from long on and does well to pull off a wonderful dive near the ropes and save a few runs. Hetmyer, shortly after, takes the aerial route and launches one straight out of the park.
DC 81/3 after 12 overs: Chakravarthy gets the much-needed breakthrough in his very first over! Pant, looking to slog sweep over the longer boundary, gets a thick edge which flies to Gill, who makes no mistakes at long leg. Shimron Hetmyer joins his skipper.
DC 76/2 after 11 overs: Iyer goes for two consecutive drives off Ferguson through extra cover for boundaries.
DC 64/2 after 10 overs: We are halfway through Match 1 of Super Saturday and Narine will resume his duties. Goes for a run a ball and it will be interesting to see when Delhi steps on the gas.
DC 58/2 after 9 overs: Pant utilises Ferguson's brute pace to power a length ball towards the cow corner to bag a boundary. Time for the strategic break.
DC 51/2 after 8 overs: Morgan switches to spin and Sunil Narine will be bowling to Iyer. Starts off with a wide. The DC skipper and Pant restrict themselves to the singles and doubles in this over.
DC 44/2 after 7 overs: Lockie Ferguson, who has been the most economical bowler in IPL 2020, thus far, is all set to bowl his first over. Pant tries to pull a shorter delivery towards the boundary off the very second but the lack of timing sees the ball stop in its tracks. He does get the boundary, however, off the next delivery, slamming this behind point, just wide off a diving third man.
DC 36/2 after 6 overs: Nagarkoti comes back well and mixes it up to hit the right line and lengths this over. Only three off it.
DC 33/2 after 5 overs: Pant heaves a sigh of relief after a leading edge just dips short of bowler Prasidh. The left-handed batsman goes on to take some pressure off the visitor as he utilises the added bounce on the very next delivery to work it away over short fine leg for a maximum. With that shot, Pant becomes the first player to hit 100 IPL sixes for the side. Things go from bad to worse after Prasidh oversteps twice and also gifts a wide.
DC 21/2 after 4 overs: Kamlesh Nagarkoti to bowl from the other end. Iyer hits two back-to-back boundaries in the same zone, flicking behind square leg.
DC 13/2 after 3 overs: That's two off two! Another Cummins delivery, which angles in, cramps Dhawan for room and moments later, the stumps light up. No third hundred for Dhawan today and Rishabh Pant replaces him at the crease.
DC 12/1 after 2 overs: A decent over from Prasidh Krishna until Dhawan shimmied down and took the former on a ride over cover for a boundary.
DC 4/1 after 1 over: This is just the start KKR wanted! Cummo strikes off ball one. There is a hint of movement on the ball and that traps Rahane plumb in front. There was no hesitation from the umpire before he raised his finger. Iyer, new man at the crease, gets off the mark straightaway with a boundary towards long on.
- Eoin Morgan leads the way as the KKR boys make their way out onto the middle. Shikhar Dhawan, who recently became the only player to score two back-to-back centuries in the IPL, and Ajinkya Rahane will open. Pat Cummins to bowl with the new ball.
DC INNINGS
KKR 194/6 after 20 overs:
An excellent innings from Rana comes to an end after Stoinis alters his length to lure Rana to go for a hack at it. He ends up skying this one owing to an unfortunate edge and Tushar settles underneath to take a comfortable catch. Earlier, an inside edge off Rana's blade had rolled down to the fence and he had scored another, opening the face of his blade to find the gap at point. Morgan, on strike, off the last ball after Rana crossed, has been dismissed as well with Stoinis' short ball doing the trick again.
KKR 184/4 after 19 overs: Up, up and away! A low full toss, this, from KG and the Kolkata skipper has dispatched this into the stands, straight down the ground. The England batsman splits the fielders, next, at short third man and point to get a four as well.
KKR 170/4 after 18 overs: Morgan is up and running after bludgeoning a fuller delivery from paceman Nortje over mid-off to claim a boundary. Rana gets another boundary, slamming this just past Tushar at square leg. Even as most of the bowlers went for runs, Nortje has been impressive once again, finishing with figures of 4-0-27-2
KKR 161/4 after 17 overs: KG has been brought back into the attack and it is evident that Iyer is going for the kill. And the South African pacer isn't known to disappoint. He takes the all-important wicket of Narine, who has played it straight down Ajinkya Rahane's throat. Rana, meanwhile, gets a thick outside edge, as he steps across to expose his sticks, racing down to the fence. He scores another boundary off a shorter delivery, pulling over short fine leg.
KKR 151/3 after 16 overs: Tushar starts off with a wide. His confidence has taken a beating since Kings XI Punjab's Chris Gayle took on him in Dubai four days ago. Narine shuffles across to punch one for another four. The umpire points towards his watch and it's time for the second timeout of the innings.
KKR 142/3 after 15 overs: Absolute carnage in Abu Dhabi! Narine gets to his fifty off only 24 balls. He thwacks another boundary between cover and long off and a maximum over long on this over.
KKR 127/3 after 14 overs: Narine is turning back the clock, right there, with that six off Stoinis' first - goes exploring over deep square leg now. However, he isn't done yet as he follows that up with a boundary through covers. Rana joins the celebrations to whack the last ball past sweeper cover.
KKR 111/3 after 13 overs: Nortje is pretty economical. However, the last ball takes an edge and goes down to the ropes to bring up Rana's half-century off 35 deliveries.
KKR 103/3 after 12 overs: Ashwin's been greeted with a boundary yet again; only this time it is Rana who does the honours with a classy reverse sweep. Narine is known to target the slow bowlers. The Trinidadian carts Ashwin for a maximum over deep midwicket to bring up the fifty-run stand off just 26 deliveries. Rana goes inside out again to dispatch one over covers.
KKR 86/3 after 11 overs: More runs come off this over and this intent is precisely what had seemed lacking in KKR this season. Can they carry on the show? Rana targets Stoinis and hits him for two back-to-back boundaries. Pressure's right back on DC.
KKR 75/3 after 10 overs: Narine welcomes Tushar with a fine boundary towards backward square point. It was a poor delivery - short and wide - and Narine does well to make full use of the freebie on offer. Rana, usually weaker against the shorter ball, emerges on top this time, swiveling across to get the ball to disappear over deep midwicket. Narine goes for four again.
KKR 57/3 after 9 overs: Narine seems to be enjoying his time out in the middle against spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. First, he goes all the way downtown off a loopy delivery around off, bringing up the Knights' first maximum of the day. A lucky boundary follows, off a top edge while Narine looks to play a late cut down the third man region. Time for the first strategic timeout of the match.
KKR 44/3 after 8 overs: DK's struggle with the bat continues as KG, who's currently the Purple Cap holder, gets rid of the former skipper with a length ball that only kisses his willow and carries to Rishabh Pant, who faced no trouble pouching that behind the stumps.
KKR 41/2 after 7 overs: Marcus Stoinis to bowl his first and the Australian all-rounder keeps things tight despite a wide coming off the over.
KKR 36/2 after 6 overs: Nortje gets one to nip back into the right-handed Tripathi and with the latter missing the line of the delivery, it goes on to make a mess of the woodwork. This was only three deliveries after the 29-year-old sliced the South African speedster over cover point for a boundary off the very first ball of the over. DK comes to the crease.
KKR 29/1 after 5 overs: Iyer introduces spin from one end. Rana has hammered a short ball from Axar on the line of the off stump right through midwicket and there was no way any fielder was getting there.
KKR 22/1 after 4 overs: Kagiso Rabada to fire in from the other end. Tripathi targets the boundary twice lifting the ball and clearing the infield quite easily but he somehow doesn't manage to get the required power behind those shots to clear the fence.
KKR 16/1 after 3 overs: Tushar to continue. Rana takes him on now - he wasn't in full control of that pull off a short-pitched delivery but the ball rolls down to the ropes anyway. The Delhi cricketer will take that nevertheless and, meanwhile, has also called for a change of bat after a brief chat with the umpire.
KKR 11/1 after 2 overs: Did I jinx it? Nortje strikes! Axar Patel makes no mistake at point as Gill cuts this one straight to him. Rahul Tripathi walks in at number three as the batting woes continue for the King's men.
KKR 8/0 after 1 over: Gill gets off the mark with a perfectly-timed shot through point for a boundary. Even as Tushar continues his search for some swing with the new ball, the Punjab batsman uses his wrists to work a length ball through the gap at midwicket. A brisk start, this, from KKR.
- Time for some magical words from Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer before his teammates take their respective positions on the field. Also, a bit of a surprise element there from the Knight Riders' dugout as Nitish Rana walks out to open alongside Shubman Gill. Tushar Deshpande will open the attack.
KKR INNINGS
KKR knows the pains of a batting collapse and will hope to not effect an encore of CSK's showing against DC today. Check our our review of the CSK Vs MI game where our correspondents also tell you what to look forward to in today's doubleheader.
- Anrich Nortje, who missed the defeat to Kings XI, comes in to replace Daniel Sams.
- Prithvi Shaw, who has often been backed by DC in the last two seasons, has been dropped after a series of poor scores -- 19, 4, 0, 0, 7. It will be interesting to know what the reason for his exclusion is later on in the day.
TOSS UPDATE: Delhi Capitals has won the toss and elected to bowl.
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant(w), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Tushar Deshpande, Anrich Nortje
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (w), Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
- Less than eight minutes to go for the toss... Buckle up folks. Will Rahane replace Shaw? We will find out shortly!
PITCH REPORT | "It's pitch number 3 on the square. 74 metre boundary on one side square of the wicket, 62 metre on the other side, while 79 metre straight down the ground. There's nice growth of grass on the surface. Hoping the sun will dry it out. The grass will allow the ball to slide on. It will be a two-paced wicket," reckons Ian Bishop.
- Narine has been spotted warming up. Among the bowlers, KKR will expect more from its most expensive signing, Pat Cummins. While the Australian pacer has been economical, he has struggled to pick wickets.
- We are just half an hour way from the toss in Abu Dhabi. Will Delhi make changes to the squad? Will Nortje be back? KKR, will they play both Narine and Russell? Will Narine open if he plays? Plenty of questions... One thing's for sure - it is a crucial (read must win) game for KKR.
The race for the playoffs is heating up. Kolkata has somehow managed to keep playoff hopes alive despite a topsy turvy campaign. It goes up against an in-form Delhi, which despite losing to Punjab, is guaranteed a place in the last four. The pressure will be on Kolkata and with lingering doubts about the availability of Narine and Russell, Delhi will fancy its chances.
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KKR will do well to define Shubman Gill's role at the top of the order. The youngster, on occasions, has struggled to force the pace this season but is a capable accumulator once he gets his eye in. If Narine plays, KKR might consider opening the innings with him, just to take the pressure off young Gill. Russell's form with the bat has been a huge drawback for the Kolkata side. His inability to get going in the middle overs or at the death has cost the team a big flourish in the end.
On the other hand is Delhi has struck the right balance on the batting and bowling. Shikhar Dhawan became the first batsman to hit successive hundreds in IPL against Kings XI Punjab. His return to form has resulted in greater batting assurance and firepower. Anrich Nortje did not play the last match vs Punjab. Delhi will hope it can avail the South African speedster's services today.
A playoff berth looks certain for Delhi Capitals, whereas, the Knight Riders needs to win all its remaining matches to ensure that it reaches the last four-stage of the Indian Premier League. So, when the two teams meet at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, Eoin Morgan’s side will be hoping to get the house in order.
England's players can withdraw from tours if they feel playing in bio-secure bubbles during the COVID-19 pandemic will take a toll on their mental health, limited overs captain Eoin Morgan has said -
Will they play?
KKR all-rounder Russell hurt his hamstring in the tied game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and didn't feature in the eight-wicket defeat against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Meanwhile, Sunil Narine has not played since his action was cleared.
“You can play a cheeky shot to disturb the bowler (in a Test match). T20 teaches you to take risks,” says dashing opener Shikhar Dhawan.
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Match details
Head-to-head: KKR 13-11 Delhi
IPL 2020: Match No. 42
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Time: 3.30 pm
IPL Points Table
Likely teams
KKR: Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (captain), Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell/Tom Banton, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna, Kamlesh Nagarkoti.
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw/Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer/Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Kagiso Rabada/Daniel Sams, Anrich Nortje, Harshal Patel, Tushar Deshpande, Axar Patel.
WHERE TO WATCH IPL 2020 - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals LIVE?
The Indian Premier League match KKR and DC will be broadcast live on
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