IPL 2018, KKR vs DD: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) probable team against Delhi Daredevils (DD)

Under their new captain, Dinesh Karthik, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have not had the best of starts to their 2018 IPL campaign. After winning the first encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore, they suffered a couple losses against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

As they play their third home game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, we look at their probable playing XI for today’s game against Delhi Daredevils.

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Openers

After a couple of failures, Chris Lynn was finally looking in good touch in KR’s last game against SRH. He scored 49 in 34 balls to give KKR a good start. He was scratchy at times but he put that behind with some power hitting. KKR will be hoping it (the innings against SRH) was the start of Lynn’s dominating form.

When Robin Uthappa walked out to open the batting with Chris Lynn, it took a lot of people by surprise. Given Sunil Narine’s success in the first two games, it was a bold move. But Dinesh Karthik revealed later that Narine might not open in all games and it will depend upon the opposition and state of the game. Hence, given the pace-attack DD have, Uthappa will open the batting once again.

Middle-order

Nitish Rana has got starts in all games in this tournament but hasn’t gone onto register a big (or a substantial) score. He’s looked good and he seems to be hitting the ball well, but he hasn’t converted those promising innings to big ones. He will look to get a good score under his belt against his home-state team.

Shubman Gill made his debut in the last game but wasn’t quite effective. He batted at No. 7 and scored a 9-ball 3 before falling prey to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He will be hoping to get another opportunity but this time at the top of the order.

Dinesh Karthik was the only other batsman who crossed the 20-run mark in the last game. He’s been in good form and has batted at No. 5 on most occasions in recent times. He’s finished the innings well and has been hitting the ball beautifully. He will look to lead from the front.

All-rounders

Andre Russell had a rare off day with both bat and ball. He’s come into bat early with KKR in trouble in the last couple of games. He’s also been a touch expensive. However, Russell is key to the balance of the side and can turn the game in a few deliveries.

As Dinesh Karthik said after the last game, Sunil Narine will be used as a floater and his batting position will depend on the situation of the game. On the other hand, his performance with the ball has been excellent. He has taken 4 wickets in 3 games at an economy of 5.33.

Lower-order and Bowlers

After Kamlesh Nagarkoti was ruled out due to a foot-injury and Vinay Kumar’s poor returns, Shivam Mavi made his IPL debut in the last game. However, like his Under-19 teammate Shubman Gill, he was under-utilised. He came into bowl only in the 15th over and gave away 10 runs. That was the only over he bowled, but he was impressive as he hit the bat hard and was bowling over 140 kmph in the only over he bowled.

Mitchell Johnson looked a touch rusty after recovering from a minor niggle which kept him out of the second game. With returns of 1/30 in both games, Johnson is most likely play ahead of Tom Curran in this game.

Piyush Chawla has led the spin attack quite well. He’s tried to pull KKR back in the game a couple of times with a crucial breakthrough. Except for the game against CSK where he was taken for 49 runs, Chawla has been very good taking wickets at crucial stages. He’s bowled in the powerplay and sometimes at the death.

Kuldeep Yadav has surprisingly been a little off-colour in the first three games. He’s completed his quota of four overs only in one game and that was the only game his economy was good. He had figures 1/23 in 4 overs in the last game. He will be hoping to make amends in the coming games.

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