There is one spot left in the Indian Premier League final and it will be filled on Wednesday when the Delhi Capitals go up against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2021 Qualifier 2 in Sharjah with the Chennai Super Kings awaiting the winners.
This match pits the best team in the regular season against the pick of the franchises in the UAE leg of the campaign in a straight knockout for a place in the final on Friday. The winner progresses, the loser is done for the year.
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals had looked the best team in the competition but things have just gone a little sour in the last couple of matches. The obvious problem has been their death bowling which has cost them two wins and meant they are now fighting for their season. One or two bowlers have certainly felt the pinch at the end of the innings in the last two matches, but Rishabh Pant might have got his combinations wrong towards the conclusion of both games.
You do therefore fear a bit for the Capitals if they end up batting first here. The two losses have been from a hugely favourable position and these things can quickly throw up a mental block so the best thing for the Capitals might be to chase, but then that comes with its own pressure of having to get the runs to stay alive in the season. The other answer is for their bowlers to bowl a lot better at the death than they have been doing.
Kolkata Knight Riders
If there was a league table for the UAE leg of this IPL 2021 season then the Kolkata Knight Riders would be comfortably on top of it and unlike their opponents in this match, they carry winning momentum through with them. There is a lot to be said for having held your nerve in a knockout match already and given how tight the Knight Riders’ Eliminator against the Royal Challengers Bangalore go, they certainly had to hold their nerve in order to make it through.
The approach of the Knight Riders has been the key thing in this leg of the campaign. They have gone after everything with the bat and have come up with excellent plans with the ball. That all takes players to be playing somewhere near their best for it to come off and that is exactly what is happening. That comes with the confidence of having a lot of batting depth and more than five bowling options so if someone doesn’t come off there are others that can.
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Key Men
Someone is going to need to bowl some decent overs at the death for the Delhi Capitals. In the last two matches Anrich Nortje has bowled over 19 and 18 respectively and on both occasions he has bowled a tidy over. It might be time to give him overs 18 and 20.
Sunil Narine won the match for the Kolkata Knight Riders with the ball and then the bat against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and on this sluggish Sharjah track he is very much the key man despite all the Delhi left-handers.
Betting
There was a time a couple of weeks ago where I thought the Delhi Capitals were the team to beat in this competition but now I fear for them. Their death bowling in the last two matches has been atrocious and that was after their batsmen delivered the goods. They might struggle a bit with the bat in these Sharjah conditions which don’t suit them but even if they don’t if you can’t finish matches off then by and large you don’t win them.
Kolkata Knight Riders suit these Sharjah conditions perfectly. Their bowling attack is a mixture of extreme pace and mystery spin, they bat deep and they have a combination of left and right handers to attack whichever short boundaries there are on show. They also have players who can knock it around and bump the score along and players who can smack it out of the ground so there is a lot to like about the Knight Riders and although the lower ranked team doesn’t have the greatest record in this match historically, I think there is enough about the Knight Riders to warrant backing them.
Tips
Back Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Delhi Capitals for a 3/10 stake at 1.87 with Betway
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