High-flying Kolkata takes on strong Delhi in the second game of the doubleheader fixture of Indian T20 League 2020.
Match Timings: Oct 03, 7:30 PM
Team Preview
Saturday’s night clash would be a cracking game as two top sides Kolkata and Delhi face off each other in Sharjah. After losing the opening game to Mumbai by 49 runs, Kolkata bounced back and won two straight matches against Hyderabad and Rajasthan. Kolkata found their best team combination as Shivam Mavi and Nagarkoti were impressive in Dubai. Dinesh Karthik and Narine’s form with the bat is a worrying sign. Morgan batted at number 6 which also evolved questions on the skipper. Rahul Tripathi and Tom Banton both are sitting on the bench and Kolkata can take a call if Narine disappoints one more time. The purple army is likely to go ahead with no change.
Meanwhile, Delhi suffered their first defeat to Hyderabad and some questions also raised for Ponting. Shaw was exceptional against Chennai but his shot-selection might drop him later in the tournament as the surface is getting slow in UAE. Iyer and Pant are off the colours and their strike rate put some concerns. Hetmyer didn’t make justice in middle-order. Why Stoinis is batting at down-order, despite his cracking knock against Punjab, is also a big question. Their bowling unit is their strongest part and their main test will be on batting-friendly track tonight. Ashwin is recovering and he night be available for the selection and Delhi can drop Mishra to pick him to boost their spin and down-order both. Kolkata is strong favourites in Sharjah as they have more balance in batting.
Pitch Report
Sharjah’s track is a pure batting paradise. In both games this season, each inning saw 200 plus score. Rajasthan even chased down 224 in the previous outing. Spinners have nothing from the surface. Big hitters have the advantage due to the short boundaries. Chasing is an ideal call as the dew factor will play a major role in 2nd half.
Possible XI
Delhi
Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra/Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje
Kolkata
Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Key Players
Delhi
Kagiso Rabada
Last season – Wickets: 25, Avg: 14.72, Eco: 7.82
This season – M: 3, Wickets: 7, Avg: 10.71
Shikhar Dhawan
Last season – Runs: 521, Avg: 34.73, SR: 135.67
Previous outing: 34 (31)
Kolkata
Shubman Gill
This season – M: 3, Runs: 124, Avg: 62
Eoin Morgan
Season so far: M: 3, Runs: 92, Avg: 92
