Match 41 (Preview)

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Match Details

Date: September 28, 2021

Time: 3:30 PM (IST)

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

Live Ball-by-Ball Commentary: SportsTiger App

Preview:

Delhi will aim to continue their winning streak when they take on Kolkata in Indian T20 League 2021 on Tuesday as the two sides lock horns at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Both the teams have had good starts to the second half of the season. Delhi are sitting comfortably in second place while Kolkata need to get more wins under their belt to qualify for the playoffs.

The two teams have already met once this season in April and at that time it was the Rishabh Pant-led side which emerged victorious in a one-sided contest by 7 wickets. Kolkata had scored 154/6, thanks to superb batting from Shubman Gill (43) and Andre Russell (45*). But a blistering 82-run knock by Prithvi Shaw helped Delhi win the game convincingly with more than 3 overs to spare.

Position in the Indian T20 League standings:

Delhi: Current Position: 2nd (16 points in 10 matches)

Kolkata : Current Position: 4th (8 points in 10 matches)

Team News

Delhi Full Squad:

IN: Kulwant Khejroliya, Ben Dwarshuis | OUT: M Siddharth, Chris Woakes

Rishabh Pant (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw, Ripal Patel, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyar, Shreyas Iyer, Steve Smith, Amit Mishra, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan, Ben Dwarshuis, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Kulwant Khejroliya, Lukman Meriwala, Pravin Dubey, Tom Curran, Umesh Yadav, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sam Billings and Vishnu Vinod.

Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis suffered hamstring injury and his availability is doubtful for this match.

Kolkata Full Squad:

Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Tim Seifert (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun CV, Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Pawan Negi.

Head to Head (in Indian T20 League)

Matches Played – 27

Delhi – 12

Kolkata – 14

Key Players

Andre Russell:

There are few more thrilling sights than Dre Russ in full flow with the bat. However, the swashbuckling all-rounder has struggled with his fitness in the past two years in cash-rich tournament. He has looked a bit off-colour lately and hasn’t made many noteworthy contributions this season. This will be the perfect moment for him to rise to the occasion and showcase his match-winning abilities with a good performance.

Shikhar Dhawan:

The top-scorer of the current season of Indian T20 League was surprisingly left out of India’s T20 World Cup squad. The southpaw has scored 430 runs at an average of 47.78 and at a strike rate of 131. Dhawan has had a stunning season so far and the best way to respond to his World Cup omission will be to continue in the same manner now. The swashbuckling opener will again be at the center of attention against Kolkata.

Venkatesh Iyer:

The 26-year-old Madhya Pradesh player has lit up the Indian T20 League with his stylish batting performances. He has been in brilliant touch and his scores in the tournament read 41*, 53 and 18. Venkatesh Iyer's batting displays also changed KKR’s fortunes in the second phase as the team registered back-to-back wins against Bangalore and Mumbai. The spotlight will again be on the 6-foot 4-inch-tall opener when he takes on the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Avesh Khan.

Probable Playing XI

Delhi: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan

Kolkata: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prasidh Krishna