DC vs KKR Match Preview- IPL 2024, Match 16

The DC vs KKR IPL 2024 match will be played in Vizag on April 3, Wednesday. The match starts at 7.30 pm IST and is the second and last home game for the Delhi Capitals at the ACA VDCA stadium in Vizag. 

Date and Venue

The DC vs KKR IPL 204 match will be played in Vizag on April 3, Wednesday. The match starts at 7.30 pm IST. This is the first game between the two teams this season. Delhi Capitals have won their last three games against Kolkata Knight Riders. 

DC vs KKR Match Preview- IPL 2024, Match 16

Delhi Capitals 

DC are led by Rishabh Pant who has made a comeback in the series. He led his team to victory against Chennai Super Kings in their previous match. The win finally got The Capitals’ first two points on the board. It was a clinical game in many ways with the batters and bowlers doing their job perfectly well. 

The inclusion of Prithvi Shaw paid dividends as he got his team off to a flier against CSK. Both Shaw and David Warner have good records against KKR and will look to a good start against them as well. The side has got enough batting depth to post a big total against KKR. 

The bowling attack looks good with Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, and Mukesh Kumar. All of them played a role in the team’s win over CSK and will need to replicate their performance. They should include Kuldeep Yadav against KKR.

The chinaman bowler who played for KKR in the past has taken two four-wicket hauls against KKR since joining Delhi Capitals. As said earlier. Delhi has won three of the last five games against KKR. 

DC Squad 

Rishabh Pant (c), Pravin Dubey, David Warner, Vicky Ostwal, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, Abishek Porel, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Lalit Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Mitchell Marsh, Ishant Sharma, Yash Dhull, Mukesh Kumar, Tristan Stubbs, Ricky Bhui, Kumar Kushagra, Rasikh Dar, Jhye Richardson, Sumit Kumar, Shai Hope, Swastik Chhikara.

Kolkata Knight Riders 

KKR are heading into this game on the back of back-to-back wins. They were lucky to win against SRH but dominated RCB at the Chinnaswamy. They won their sixth game on the trot against RCB at the venue. They bowled well especially at the death and not allowing RCB to cross 200 was a victory in itself. 

Gautam Gambhir persisted with Sunil Narine at the top and it paid off. His blazing start made the chase easier. Looks like Sunil Narine will continue to open the batting for KKR. However, against DC, he will face the likes of Nortje, Khaleel, Mukesh, and Ishant who will try to exploit his weakness. 

KKR have lost their last three games on the trot against DC with Kuldeep Yadav taking a lot of wickets. Gambhir and the management should have their plans ready against a team that tasted success in the last game. With the kind of start the Knight Riders have got, they should back themselves to beat DC. 

KKR Squad 

Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jason Roy, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gus Atkinson, Sakib Hussain 

Key Battles

David Warner vs Mitchell Starc 

Starc has a good record against KKR. He has scored over 1000 runs against KKR. He will be up against his Australian teammate Mitchell Starc who will be trying to dismiss him. Starc has gone for 100 runs in the first two games without a wicket for KKR. 

Prithvi Shaw vs Sunil Narine 

Shaw plays with a real attacking approach as he proved in the match against CSK. He fancies playing against CSK. It is against this team that he hit six fours on the trot back in IPL 2021. Narine might be KKR’s answer to his attacking strokeplay. 

Phil Salt vs Anrich Nortje 

Salt has been providing KKR with consistent starts in the first two games. He loves pace on the bat but Anrich Nortje might outfox him with his pace. That will be a riveting battle. Salt has faced just one ball from Nortje in international cricket.

Andre Russell vs Kuldeep Yadav 

Russell fancies taking the spinners early on in his innings. DC might bring in Kuldeep Yadav against him. The chinaman bowler has dismissed him once previously in IPL 2022. Russell has scored just four runs off 10 deliveries against Kuldeep.

Key Players

For KKR, Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, and Rinku Singh will be key with the bat along with Andre Russell. With the ball, the KKR spin trio will be key. 

For DC, David Warner and Prithvi Shaw will be key. Both of them have been consistent against KKR. With the ball against KKR, Kuldeep Yadav holds the key in the middle overs while Nortje at the death.

Weather and Pitch

The weather conditions will be hot and humid in Vizag for this DC vs KKR match. The temperatures will be around 30 degrees in the evening and dew is expected to play a part in the contest. There is no chance of rain. 

Talking about the pitch, from what we saw in the DC vs CSK match, the pitch is a high-scoring venue. Batting first the Delhi Capitals batters batted well with the ball coming onto the ball better than during the chase where the change-ups troubled the CSK batters. Thus the captain who wins the toss might fancy batting first. However, given that KKR won their game chasing in the last match, they might stick to chasing.

Conclusion

 The DC vs KKR rivalry stands in favour of KKR who have won 15 games while DC 14. Since 2022, Delhi Capitals have won three games on the bounce and three of the last five games. KKR will be knowing about this particular stat heading into this game. 

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