🏏IPL 2023: Match 28 - DC vs KKR on 20/04/2023 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

🏏IPL 2023: Match 28 - DC vs KKR at Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi on 20/04/2023 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

Tag & Logo Credit: Sevenstreaks

Delhi Capitals desperate for turnaround with struggling Kolkata Knight Riders visiting

KKR have their own problems, which could be the perfect time for Capitals to face them

Capitals optimistic despite 0-5 start

Delhi Capitals have had a calamitous start to their campaign this season, losing all five matches so far, but their captain David Warner still seems optimistic. "Teams have come back well from this position before and we can go on and do better," he said after their loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

They do still have reasons to be positive at this stage - teams have bounced back well after losing five on the trot in previous seasons - but in the five-day gap between the previous match and the upcoming one, Capitals have also had to deal with an off-field issue. A number of players lost their bats and other equipment in transit from Bengaluru. More woes indeed.

Capitals have not played with the same XI in any of the five games, and their bowling unit has failed to defend totals. But their batting remains the biggest letdown. There are a number of big names in the XI but they haven't fired so far - Warner included. He's got three fifties but his strike rate stands at 116.92. His opening partner Prithvi Shaw has been enduring a poor run of form, with 15 being his highest individual score this season. Together, Warner and Shaw have put up a total of just 104 runs in five matches.

The only other team whose openers have a worse record is Kolkata Knight Riders - a total of 70 in five. Knight Riders have lost most wickets in the powerplay and have not scored a single six in that phase. Venkatesh Iyer has been making up for their failures, and has been a real threat in the last few games. In the previous match against Mumbai Indians, behind his 104, Andre Russell's 21 was the highest score. The rest of the line-up has blown hot and cold.

Spin to win has been Knight Riders' mantra this season, and they've particularly had a hard time on days when their spinners have not succeeded. Their fast bowling trio of Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur have been expensive in the last few games. Their quicks have also taken only nine wickets combined - the least among all teams this season.

Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders Pitch Report

The pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium looks good for batting. The ball comes nicely onto the bat and the batters can hit through the line right from the start of their innings. Fans can expect a high-scoring affair on Thursday.

Pitch and conditions

In the IPL since 2019, the teams batting second have been more successful at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, winning 10 out of 13 games. The weather is expected to be fine for the duration of the game.

Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders Weather Forecast

Temperatures in Delhi are expected to be in the mid-20s on Thursday. It will stay humid throughout the day.

Thanks for the tag Raji

KKR🥳

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Delhi Capitals

If Capitals bat first, they may name three overseas players and use the combination of Prithvi Shaw and Mustafizur Rahman for the Impact swap. Otherwise, no other changes are expected but could we see Axar Patel batting higher up? Assistant coach Shane Watson half-joked to reporters about it after the last game.

Capitals XII: 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Yash Dhull, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Lalit Yadav, 8 Aman Khan, 9 Abishek Porel (wk), 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Anrich Nortje, 12 Mustafizur Rahman.

Kolkata Knight Riders

With Rahmanullah Gurbaz underperforming, Knight Riders will be tempted to bring in Jason Roy. In that case, N Jagadeesan will be their wicketkeeper. Venkatesh Iyer and Suyash Sharma are the likely Impact Player swaps, depending on the toss.

Knight Riders XII: 1 Jason Roy/Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 N Jagadeesan (wk), 3 Venkatesh Iyer, 4 Nitish Rana (capt), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Varun Chakaravarthy, 12 Suyash Sharma.

Form guide

Delhi Capitals LLL (last three matches, most recent first)

Kolkata Knight Riders LLW

Team News

Andre Russell's recent leg troubles were due to 'dehydration cramps', according to Nitish Rana. Otherwise, he is match fit as are the rest of the squad members at Knight Riders.

It is understood that Capitals have called up Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyam Garg for trials, but there's no news of any injury barring Khaleel Ahmed's hamstring strain from last week.

Head to Head:

KKR lead the head-to-head record in IPL matches against the DC by 16-14. The two teams also met once in the Champions League T20, where DC emerged as the winner. KKR dominated DC in IPL 2021 season, beating them twice in three meetings, but DC avenged those defeats by beating KKR twice in two matches of IPL 2022

Team News

Delhi Capitals

Tactics & Match-ups: David Warner has 228 runs this season but it has come at a strike rate of just 116.92. But this could be a fixture where he can look to give that rather unflattering statistic a jump, as he strikes at 144.62 against Umesh Yadav, at 153.04 against Sunil Narine and at 218.18 against Andre Russell. Umesh, however, has dismissed him five times in 65 balls.

Probable XI: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner (c), Mitchell Marsh, Yash Dhull, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Abhishek Porel (wk), Lalit Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mustafizur Rahman

Kolkata Knight Riders

Tactics & Match-ups: Suyash Sharma will be licking his lips to bowl at a venue where two opposition wrist spinners - Rashid Khan and Piyush Chawla - have dismantled Delhi Capitals' batting order to set their sides up for wins at this venue. Additionally, Umesh, KKR's PowerPlay option, matches up well against Prithvi Shaw having dismissed him twice in 16 balls.

Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz/Jason Roy, N Jagadeesan, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun CV, Suyash Sharma

What they said:

"Honestly, with the coming of the Impact Player rule, the number of overs an all-rounder is bowling has dropped down drastically. Obviously, if a team has a specialist bowler as their sixth bowler and then they don't want to try their all-rounder. This is what the Impact Player rule has brought. It has lessened the utility of all-rounders" - Venkatesh Iyer, who hasn't bowled a ball this IPL, on the impact of the impact player rule on the utility of allrounders.

Stats that matter

Warner has faced the most balls (195) in IPL 2023 without scoring a six.

Umesh Yadav has sent Warner back five times in the IPL - the most times a bowler has dismissed him.

Capitals have not lost their first five opening games in the IPL since 2013. They finished last that season.

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 28

Deadline for toss prediction: 7:00PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 7:30PM IST

Make sure you hit "Submit prediction" button for initial predictions and "Update Prediction" button after making any subsequent changes to register your predictions.

Thanks for the tag, Raji!❤️