Patriot gives a preview as Delhi Capitals take on Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah tonight

Riding high in the Indian Premier League (IPL) standings, both Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have won two games each from their first three fixtures.

While Delhi’s unbeaten run came to an end against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the previous outing, Kolkata got the better of Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a convincing manner to make significant strides upwards in the points table.

This contest between DC and KKR could just be the perfect weekend’s action for fans since it will be played in Sharjah, a venue that is practically a heaven for attacking batsmen and has so far produced over 400 runs cumulatively in each of the two matches that have taken place here.

Rajasthan Royals banked on the exploits of Sanju Samson to win both of their matches here and when it comes to the DC vs KKR battle, both teams have some highly attacking batsman that in their line-ups too. There’s no doubting that this could be another run-fest at Sharjah, but who will come out on top?

As far as the head-to-head battles go, the two teams have played each other on 25 occasions so far in the IPL, with KKR winning 13 and losing 11. Only one match between the two teams has taken place in UAE where Delhi had emerged victorious. As far as the stats of these two teams at this venue go, DC have played two games (one loss, one win) while KKR had lost the only game they played here.

The Andre Russell threat would be the biggest worry for Delhi at Sharjah considering the fact that KKR could once again send him up in the batting order, just the way they did against RR. Keeping in mind the dimensions of the ground at Sharjah, the big-hitting West Indian could really hit it out of the park quite easily.

Delhi would be hopeful of R Ashwin’s return to the playing XI after the veteran spinner completed a few net sessions for the franchise since being injured in the first game of the season. Ashwin could be DC’s biggest weapon against the Russell threat but that change will come at the cost of Amit Mishra who has hardly put a foot wrong in the two matches he has featured in.

Sunil Narine is once again expected to feature at the top, especially keeping the Sharjah boundaries in mind. He has struggled for runs but KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of starting big by bringing Narine lower down the order.

(Cover:   Credit – IPLT20.COM)