IPL 2019: Match 26, KKR vs DC - Predicted Playing XI, Preview, and Key Players

The Kolkata Knight Riders will host Delhi Capitals in the 26th fixture of IPL 2019 at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Friday, April 12.

Head to Head Overall Stats: Kolkata and Delhi have clashed against each other in 23 games, and today's hosts have the edge, having secured 13 games.

Head to Head in Eden Gardens Stadium: The Eden fortress tends to favour the hosts, and they hold a clear advantage over the visitors by winning seven out of eight fixtures played at this venue.

Previous IPL 2019 face-off: In their earlier clash on March 30, the teams witnessed a nerve wrecking contest which later went down to the super over. The Capitals rode on Kagiso Rabada's exceptional efforts to beat the Knight Riders by four runs.

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Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders (Source - iplt20/BCCI)

Kolkata Knight Riders faced their second defeat of this season at the hands of Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets, and currently rest on the second place on the points table.

Batting

Key Players - Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, and Nitish Rana

Andre Russell continues to be their best batsman and was the only batsman to score a fifty against the upbeat Chennai Super Kings. The Caribbean currently leads the batting charts for KKR with 257 runs and he will once again be the key in case they suffer early jolts.

While Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana are KKR's next best options with 183 and 169 runs in the tournament respectively, both failed to get starts last time and will be expected to make a strong contribution this time. Except these, the skipper will also expect a good opening stand from their openers Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine.

Bowling

Key Players - Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla & Kuldeep Yadav

Russell's allround abilities makes his teams best striker with the ball as well. Russell currently leads the team's bowling charts with five wickets and is followed by Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine, who have taken four, three and three wickets respectively and it will mostly depend on these three to bind the opponents into the web of spin.

Expected Playing XI

Dinesh Karthik (c,wk), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Harry Gurney, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa.

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Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals (Source - iplt20/BCCI)

The Capitals managed to avoid a Russell scare in their previous head to head game to seal a super over win over the Knight Riders and are coming off an impressive four wicket win against RCB, which will certainly boost their confidence ahead of the clash.

Batting

Key Players - Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, and Shikhar Dhawan

Prithvi Shaw was Delhi's best batter with his brilliant 99 run knock in the earlier fixture and the skipper will expect him to replicate his innings here. While skipper Shreyas Iyer is team's leading run-getter this season with 215 runs and played a captain's knock in their win against Bangalore, he too will be eager to make it better against KKR.

Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant's failures are certainly hurting Delhi's chances of progression, and it will be essential that these two come out with a solid performance against KKR.

Bowling

Key Players - Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris, and Sandeep Lamichhane

Kagiso Rabada, the season's leading wicket taker and the hero of DC's stunning win in the earlier fixture will once again be their go to bowler. Chris Morris' inclusion in the XI has strengthened their bowling lineup, as the all-rounder has picked six wickets in his four outings and is expected to trouble the opponents in the next fixture.

Meanwhile, Sandeep Lamichhane and Amit Mishra will share the spinning duties and these two alongside experienced Ishant Sharma will be expected to put a grip on the opponent's scoring rate.

Expected Playing XI

Shreyas Iyer (c), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Colin Ingram, Rishabh Pant (wk), Chris Morris, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Sandeep Lamichhane and Kagiso Rabada.