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Two crucial points will be up for grabs when the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) take on the Delhi Capitals (DC) at Eden Gardens on April 29.
While DC has won four of their last five outings after a 1-4 start to their IPL 2024 campaign, KKR are coming off a shocking defeat to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) despite scoring a mammoth 261. Yet, KKR are still second on the points table with five wins in eight matches, while DC are sixth despite their recent winning run.
As the tournament heads to the stage when teams jostle for playoff spots, Delhi fans have been wondering about the possible return of David Warner. The 37-year-old has missed DC's last two games against the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Mumbai Indians (MI).
The veteran batter sustained a thumb injury during the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) clash on April 12 and missed the subsequent game against GT. However, Warner returned for the encounter against the SunRisers Hyderabad on April 20 before sitting out the next two games.
As things stand, David Warner is still recovering from the injury and will continue to miss time as confirmed by DC assistant coach Pravin Amre on the eve of the KKR clash.
"Warner will take 1-2 weeks to recover. His scans revealed an injury," said Amre to the media.
The Aussie opener struggled in the games he played thus far this season, scoring only 167 runs at an average of 23.85 and a strike rate of 135.77 with a lone half-century in seven games.
Delhi Capitals opt to bat first in crucial KKR clash at Eden Gardens
DC skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bat first on an Eden Gardens wicket that has been the batters' friend this season. The side welcomed opener Prithvi Shaw back into the playing XI after his absence in their last game against MI.
Rishabh Pant confirmed the same at the toss by saying:
"We'll bat first. The way our team is poised, would look to put a score on the board. Wicket looks slightly on the slower side. Shaw comes back, Kushagra misses out. Rasikh Dar starts in place of Mukesh I guess. Talk is to take one match at the time."
Meanwhile, pacers Mitchell Starc and Vaibhav Arora returned for KKR in this all-important contest.
KKR won the first meeting between the sides by a massive 106-run margin in Visakhapatnam on April 3.
