IPL 2024, DC face KKR challenge in Visakhapatnam: Preview
Delhi Capitals (DC) will meet the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 16 of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). While KKR have won both their fixtures so far, DC opened their account in the preceding outing after losing two on the trot. They would want to enhance their tally even further. Here we look at the match preview.
Pitch report and conditions
The Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam will host this duel on April 3 (7:30pm IST). The venue has hosted 14 T20 matches with the average run rate of teams batting first reading 7.99. Chasing sides have won on seven occasions. Star Sports will telecast the match and fans can also live-stream it on JioCinema for free.
Here is the head-to-head record
Both teams have played each other a total of 32 times, and it has mostly been very close encounters. KKR have the upper hand with 16 victories, but DC isn't far away with 15 wins (one Super Over). One of their games got washed out. The two sides met just once last season and DC prevailed over KKR by four wickets.
Have DC overcome their issues?
DC were comprehensive against Chennai Super Kings in their last outing as the likes of Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, and Rishabh Pant were among the runs while Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar did the talking with the ball. Meanwhile, there is room for improvement in the KKR camp as they conceded 180-plus totals in their first two outings. Their batters have done exceedingly well.
Here are the probable XIs
KKR (probable XI): Philip Salt (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy. DC (probable XI): Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed. Impact subs: Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rasikh Dar Salam.
A look at the key performers
David Warner's tally of 1,075 IPL runs at 44.79 against KKR is the highest for any batter. Kuldeep Yadav has claimed 10 wickets across just four IPL matches against the Knight Riders. Andre Russell's career strike rate of 175.54 is the highest for any player in IPL history. Young pacer Harshit Rana has claimed five wickets across two games at 14.40.
