IPL 2018: Match 26, DD vs KKR, Preview - Hosts look to make amends under the new skipper

Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will face off in the match 26 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The hosts will be playing with their new skipper Shreyas Iyer and it will be interesting to see if they gell well together under his leadership. Their opponents are coming off a six-day break and will be refreshed to bring their season back on track after blowing hot and cold so far. However, it will be yet another high-class encounter and is expected to be a thriller much like the previous matches.

Iyer will be leading the team for the first time in the Indian T20 extravaganza and he has got a tough task on his hands. It is important for them to start winning matches now and one more loss would put their season in jeopardy. It looked like they found a perfect combination in the last match after making wholesale changes as the likes Liam Plunkett and Daniel Christian performed well. Another key thing to look forward would be if the former skipper Gautam Gambhir will find a place in the playing XI.

KKR were hit with a Gayle storm at home ground last week and they will have to sort out the issues regarding their bowling attack. Their plans were baffling at times and the skipper Dinesh Karthik has to be clear in mind what he needs to do in order to play consistently well now as the tournament is going deeper. They are currently at the fourth position in the points table with 3 victories after six matches and Rajasthan Royals are close to them with the same number of points.

Team Combinations

Delhi Daredevils

Daredevils almost had a perfect XI in the last game but endured a heart-breaking loss off the last ball. There should not be many changes this time around and one should expect for Chris Morris to come back into the contention. Even Jayant Yadav also can come in to assist the leggie, Amit Mishra. The fast bowling trio of Liam Plunkett, Avesh Khan and Trent Boult have been excellent and should continue playing even as Prithvi Shaw showed glimpses of his talent in a brief knock in the last match.

Probable XI: Gautam Gambhir, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Liam Plunkett, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult

Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR might hand a debut to Javon Searles in place of Tom Curran and the remaining line-up should be same. Chris Lynn has come back into sizzling form and is expected to continue in the same vein. Robin Uthappa has also been in brilliant touch hitting big shots at will but needs to convert those 20s and 30s into a big one now. They can also think of making a better use of Shubman Gill who is being wasted at 6 so far.

Probable XI: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Javon Searles, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav

Focus will be on

Gautam Gambhir (DD)

Gautam Gambhir will be playing only as a pure batsman in the IPL after a long time and will soon has to prove his worth to the team. He took responsibility for the earlier losses and stepped down from the captaincy ahead of the game. The veteran has scored only 85 runs so far with 55 of those coming in the first game. Delhi needs a contribution from their most experienced player and once he hits form, it will be easy for the upcoming batsmen to come and tonk the ball.

Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine has been off his game big time with both bat and ball. He hasn’t been consistent in both the departments and for KKR to do well, it is necessary that he has to come good with his mystery off-spin. It is important from their perspective that they keep him fresh and make sure that he is not burdened with the responsibility of opening the batting. There is still a lot of time left in the tournament and even he must have realised that his form is crucial for the team going forward in the tournament.

Head to Head

Played- 20, Delhi Daredevils – 7, Kolkata Knight Riders– 13, NR/Tie-  0

Stat Attack

1968 – Runs Robin Uthappa scored in the IPL for the Knight Riders. He needs 32 more runs to become the 2nd player with 2000 IPL runs for the KKR team after Gautam Gambhir.

Broadcast details

TV– Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Jalsha (Bengali), Star Maa Movies (Telegu), Star Sports Tamil

Online– Hotstar & YuppTv

Match Timings: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT

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