History
DC are one of only 3 teams to have never won the IPL title, while Kolkata Knight Riders have won the title twice, ironically under former DC captain Gautam Gambhir’s leadership. There is a lot of animosity between the fans of both these teams, which makes this rivalry extremely intense. These 2 teams have faced off 25 times in total, with KKR winning 13 of those, and DC winning 11, with one match being abandoned. Earlier this season, DC comfortably defeated KKR as their impressive season continued.
Team News
The Delhi Capitals won their opening two matches to get off to the perfect start, and were top of the table before they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, they regained momentum and went on to win a hattrick of games. Their batting top order looks fairly consistent, with notable contributions from at least two of the top order batsmen in every game so far, followed by some big hitting by the likes of Stoinis and Hetmyer after them.
The bowling looks very good, however, with very economical spells by the spinners and a brilliant pace partnership between Rabada and Nortje. DC lost to MI by a narrow margin, before coming back to win brilliantly against RR. A couple of key injuries to Amit Mishra and Rishabh Pant is a very worrying sign, however, with their replacements not performing so well. DC have won 4 of their last 6 matches, and defeated CSK by scoring 25 runs off the last over for a memorable victory. However, they lost their last match against KXIP in disappointing fashion.
KKR had a nightmare start to the tournament in contrast, being thrashed by Mumbai Indians in their opening game. However, they bounced back very well with impressive victories over Rajasthan Royals Sunrisers. Shubman Gill is back to top form now, but the most encouraging aspect of KKR currently is the brilliant form of their young Indian bowlers- Nagarkoti, Mavi and Varun, which makes them a very balanced side going ahead in the tournament.
They won their next game against Chennai with a narrow margin after a spirited bowling performance. KKR then clinched a thriller against KXIP by just 2 runs, as captain Dinesh Karthik finally produced the goods to take his team home. However, KKR were hammered by 82 runs against RCB, and followed that up with another crushing defeat against Mumbai Indians. In true unpredictable fashion, they bounced back straight away with an assured display against SRH in the following match to win their 5th match this season. However, they followed that up with their worst performance of the season as they could manage to score just 84 runs against RCB in a shattering defeat.
Betting Preview, Picks And Prediction
To Win The Match
DC are the favourites to win the match with odds of 1.64 as per LeoVegas, which is not surprising considering they are in brilliant form of late, with 5 wins in their last 7 matches. KKR are still enduring a roller-coaster season, and lost their last match in horrible fashion. They are 2.24 to win this match, which seems like quite a task for them right now.
Top Team Batsman
Youngster Shubman Gill is again the favourite to be KKR’s top scorer in this match, as he is widely considered to be their most consistent batsman and played a brilliant innings in a couple of matches, and has odds of 3.75. Rahul Tripathi is now the second favourite at 5.00 to be the top scorer. England captain Morgan and fellow middle-order batsman Nitish Rana both have odds of 4.50.
Shikhar Dhawan is, as usual, the favourite to be Delhi’s top batsman in this match with odds of 3.00. He has been the top scorer for DC in the last 4 matches, with back to back unbeaten centuries in the last 2 matches, becoming the first player ever to achieve this feat. His opening partner Prithvi Shaw has odds of 4.50 despite his poor form of late, while captain Shreyas Iyer has odds of 3.75, after his blistering knock against KKR propelled them to 227 in their earlier match this season.
Highest Opening Partnership
DC are favourites at 1.75 to have the highest opening partnership in this match. This is primarily because Shikhar Dhawan is in imperious form of late, while Shaw has also given a few starts occasionally. The pair is fixed, unlike KKR, who keep on changing their opening combination.
Top Team Bowler
South African pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada is in brilliant form of late, and is DC’s favourite to be the top bowler, at 3.00. He is also the current purple cap holder. He is followed by compatriot Nortje at 3.75, who is famous for his searing pace.
The most expensive purchase at this season’s auction, Pat Cummins is the favourite to be the top bowler from KKR at 4.00, followed by Lockie Ferguson at 3.75 and Sunil Narine at 4.50.
Total Runs In The Match
Odds of there being more than 327.5 runs in this match are 1.69, as per LeoVegas. This seems highly achievable as DC in particular are in good batting form, and both teams have deep batting line-ups full of all-rounders, hence some big totals are expected.
Individual Player Betting
- Shubman Gill to score more than 23.5 runs has odds of 1.87, which is also a tempting bet as he would like to continue his current form. Shikhar Dhawan to score more than 29.5 runs has odds of 1.87,which is arguably the safest bet in this match as he has scored back to back centuries as well as 2 more 50’s in his last 4 matches.
- KKR to hit the most sixes has odds of 2.00, which can be tempting with Morgan and Russel in the squad. DC to hit the most sixes has odds of 2.15, which is understandable as they have Stoinis and Dhawan, who prefer the aerial route more often than not.
- Lockie Ferguson to take 2 or more wickets has odds of 2.30 which is a given with his form, Rabada to take 2 or more wickets has odds of 1.95, which is a safe bet as he almost always takes a couple of wickets.
Our Top Betting Picks
- DC to win the match @1.64
- KKR to hit the most sixes @2.00
- DC to have the Highest Opening Partnership @1.80
- Rabada to be DC’s top wicket-taker @3.00
