The Indian Premier League continues on Wednesday with another match which sends the IPL 2024 roadshow into Visakhapatnam for the second time this season as the Delhi Capitals collide with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Capitals have one win in their three matches whereas the Knight Riders are undefeated in the two games they have played and they’ll be looking to join the Rajasthan Royals with a win here. This feels like an entertaining game of cricket.
Delhi Capitals
It looked like this was going to be another season of malfunction and struggle for the Delhi Capitals after they had lost their opening two matches. It was clear that they needed to rebound in their third game to get some sign of hope on the board and to their credit that is exactly what they did. They didn’t just beat the Chennai Super Kings, they dominated the game from start to finish and that should give them a lot of confidence.
It was probably no surprise that when they split up the Australian opening pair and brought in a top class Indian batter that the balance to their batting was much better and having put a decent score on the board, with two very good spinners to squeeze in the middle overs with the ball they were able to control the run chase and ensure there were no tight moments. They will be looking for a repeat of that effort here if they can get it.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The jury was slightly out on the Kolkata Knight Riders heading into the season too. Were they a side whose best was behind them or could their newer, exciting batters lead them somewhere? On the evidence of the opening two games of the season the latter looks to be the answer but we are still a little early in the campaign for complete certainty of that judgement. The one thing you would say is that Kolkata have looked better than previous seasons.
The big thing for Kolkata is they have an opening pair who are getting them off to solid starts. They have never lacked the middle order power but with their openers putting pressure on the bowlers they are having a lot of joy. They could probably improve with the ball, and once Mitchell Starc gets into a rhythm you would expect that to happen, but if they continue to bat the way they have started out this season they should be fine.
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Key Players
Prithvi Shaw wasn’t the highest scorer for the Delhi Capitals in the last match but he brings much better balance to the side. He is only going to keep doing that if he gets them off to quick starts though so it is imperative that he continues to do that.
You get the feeling that Sunil Narine can control the destiny of this match. If he gets the Kolkata Knight Riders off to another flyer then they will be tough to crack and equally if he can bowl four tight overs and pick up some wickets that will help too.
Betting
This match could go either way. I think I would just about favour the Kolkata Knight Riders but there is no doubt that the Delhi Capitals looked much better in their previous game with a much more balanced side. They do have one big issue that they need to address though and that comes in the form of their death bowling and that makes me think that Andre Russell could be a huge factor in this match. He was going to be with the ball anyway but he could go mad with the bat.
He has a performance line of 37.5 points which he has covered with the ball in both of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ matches so far with two wickets in each of them and if he takes another couple of wickets here then he will cover this line. That could easily happen with him being utilised in the later overs but the Delhi death bowling could lead him to creating carnage. In three matches so far in the last five overs Delhi have conceded 47 in 4.2 overs, 77 and 58 runs and there is no better finisher going around than Russell. When you add into the mix that he is one of the best fielders in the game as well I think this total is well within his reach.
Tips
Back A.Russell’s Performance – Over 37.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
