Match Preview – Capitals vs KKR, IPL 2021, 25th Match

Will the Capitals turn to Nortje? And how much longer can the Knight Riders persist with Gill?

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All games in the IPL are crucial, even when it pits one of the top teams against another that hasn’t had things go its way much. The Delhi Capitals are flying high, on eight points six games, while the Kolkata Knight Riders are in the bottom half, with two wins from six. Following consecutive cliffhangers, the Capitals would want a quieter ride, and while their batting has worked very well so far, Avesh Khan’s emergence and Amit Mishra’s re-emergence have given their side a nice, all-round sheen.

Their four wins so far have been largely down to their attacking openers, though. Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan have three times had stands worth 50 or more, with the Capitals going on to win every time. The Knight Riders have lived the opposite experience. Nitish Rana started with consecutive half-centuries, but he has only 49 runs from his last four outings, and Shubman Gill has managed 89 runs in six innings.