Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants will fight for the top spot in the IPL 2022 points table when both the teams play in a double-header in Mumbai on Sunday.
In the afternoon match at the Brabourne Stadium, KKR will take on Delhi Capitals, who are struggling in the new season. In the evening match at the Wankhede Stadium, the in-form Lucknow will face Rajasthan Royals.
KKR currently leads the IPL 2022 points table with a positive NRR of +1.103, while LSG is at the fourth spot despite being tied on points with table toppers, Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Rajasthan are at 5th position with 4 points and have one match left on the top placed teams.
past results
KKRShreyas Iyer has been impressive in his new stint as the captain of KKR. The two-time champions are leading the competition on the back of a thumping win over Mumbai Indians last week when Pat Cummins hit the joint-fastest IPL fifty. KKR’s only defeat so far has been to RCB.
DC: Capitals, on the other hand, after a winning start, have lagged behind one defeat and are in seventh place. Frustrated with his batting, DC could manage only 149 runs in their previous match against LSG on Thursday.
lsg: LSG lost their first game to Gujarat Titans, but have since registered extensive wins over defending champions Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals to post hat-tricks of wins.
RR: Royal Challengers Bangalore have emerged as one of the strongest teams ever in the competition, despite a loss in their last outing. They began their campaign by defeating Sunrisers by 61 runs before toppling Mumbai Indians.
key players
KKR: Umesh Yadav, Pat Cummins – Umesh Yadav is in poor form. With 9 wickets in 4 matches, the senior pacer has been almost unbeatable in the power-play overs. He will be crucial against David Warner, who has been looking out of form, and Prithvi Shaw, who has shown glimpses of his return to form against LSG. Cummins, well above his record-equalling half-century, will be eager to make a big impact with the ball.
DC: Rishabh Pant- Delhi’s batting has been poor so far except for a few individual performances. While consistency with Prithvi is an issue, Captain Pant needs to do the bulk of the scoring to ensure that the inexperienced lower middle order doesn’t feel the heat against a high-quality KKR attack.
lsg: Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi – KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock are on top for LSG, the trump card on Sunday will be Avesh and Bishnoi. RR have an enviable batting line-up and it will be the responsibility of the in-form bowlers to keep them stocked with wickets.
RR: Jos Buttler – Arguably one of the best batsmen in the shortest format, Jos Buttler has been in great form after his blistering century of 70 off 47 balls against RCB.
Butler in form is a huge positive for RR, who can also look to Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer for quick runs. And then there is captain Sanju Samson, who can break any bowling attack by coming in the middle.
Estimated Playing XI
KKR vs DC
KKRAjinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c&wk), Sam Billings(w), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Umesh Yadav, Rasikh Salaam, Varun Chakraborty
DCPrithvi Shaw, David Warner, Rishabh Pant (wk & c), Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Anrique Nortje
lsg vs rr
RR: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Trent Boult, Pranandesh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal
lsg: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Evin Lewis, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gautam, Andrew Tye, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan