Big Picture - Capitals optimistic despite 0-5 start
Spin to win has been Knight Riders' mantra this season, and they've particularly had a hard time on days when their spinners have not succeeded. Their fast bowling trio of Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur have been expensive in the last few games. Their quicks have also taken only nine wickets combined - the least among all teams this season.
Form guide
Delhi Capitals LLL (last three matches, most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders LLW
Team News
Andre Russell's recent leg troubles were due to 'dehydration cramps', according to Nitish Rana. Otherwise, he is match fit as are the rest of the squad members at Knight Riders.
It is understood that Capitals have called up Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyam Garg for trials, but there's no news of any injury barring Khaleel Ahmed's hamstring strain from last week.
Toss and Impact Player strategy
Delhi Capitals
If Capitals bat first, they may name three overseas players and use the combination of Prithvi Shaw and Mustafizur Rahman for the Impact swap. Otherwise, no other changes are expected but could we see Axar Patel batting higher up? Assistant coach Shane Watson half-joked to reporters about it after the last game.
Capitals XII: 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Yash Dhull, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Lalit Yadav, 8 Aman Khan, 9 Abishek Porel (wk), 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Anrich Nortje, 12 Mustafizur Rahman.
Kolkata Knight Riders
With Rahmanullah Gurbaz underperforming, Knight Riders will be tempted to bring in Jason Roy. In that case, N Jagadeesan will be their wicketkeeper. Venkatesh Iyer and Suyash Sharma are the likely Impact Player swaps, depending on the toss.
Knight Riders XII: 1 Jason Roy/Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 N Jagadeesan (wk), 3 Venkatesh Iyer, 4 Nitish Rana (capt), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Varun Chakaravarthy, 12 Suyash Sharma.
Pitch and conditions
In the IPL since 2019, the teams batting second have been more successful at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, winning 10 out of 13 games. The weather is expected to be fine for the duration of the game.
Stats that matter
- Warner has faced the most balls (195) in IPL 2023 without scoring a six.
- Umesh Yadav has sent Warner back five times in the IPL - the most times a bowler has dismissed him.
- Capitals have not lost their first five opening games in the IPL since 2013. They finished last that season.
Quotes
"The most pleasing thing is not the runs that I am scoring, the thing is that I am back on the field and playing. That is something that six months back I didn't think I would do - step on the field in such a big tournament. I am really grateful for that - scoring runs and all is secondary, bit I'm grateful to the almighty that I am just able to play on the cricket field."
Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder Venkatesh Iyer
Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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