Ajinkya Rahane has put the calculator away for now and simply asked his Kolkata Knight Riders to bowl first against Delhi Capitals at Eden Gardens, knowing full well the awkward arithmetic that still stands between them and a top-four finish.
KKR’s position is hardly straightforward. First they need Mumbai Indians to see off Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede. Then, if that box is ticked, Rahane’s side must keep Capitals to 180 or fewer and polish off the target in roughly 12 overs – 12.4 at the latest, depending on how many they concede. It is no one’s idea of easy, but stranger things have happened in late-season IPL matches.
The Knight Riders XI is unchanged except for circumstances they could do little about. Angkrish Raghuvanshi is sidelined with a concussion as well as a sore finger, so rookie keeper-batter Tejasvi Dahiya keeps his spot. “Unlucky for Angkrish, but Tejasvi did nothing wrong last time,” Rahane said during the broadcast, sounding more hopeful than bullish.
Capitals skipper Axar Patel admitted he would also have preferred to chase. “I won’t say we played badly but we failed to capitalise on the chances we got,” he noted, summing up a campaign that has spluttered rather than caught fire. Two tweaks for DC: seamer Auqib Nabi replaces Mukesh Kumar, while wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav is listed as an impact option after missing the previous game with a stiff back.
Only one IPL fixture has been staged on this surface so far, when Sunrisers hammered KKR by 65 runs early in the season. The square boundaries measure 61 and 68 metres, the straight hit 74, so there is reward for timing but also room for the bowlers if they hold their nerve.
Playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya (wk), Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakravarthy, Saurabh Dubey. Impact options: Finn Allen, Sarthak Ranjan, Vaibhav Arora, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Tripathi.
Delhi Capitals: Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Sahil Parakh, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel (capt), Auqib Nabi, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi. Impact options: Kuldeep Yadav, T Vijay, Sameer Rizvi, Vipraj Nigam, Nitish Rana.
The equation remains steep, the mood in Kolkata cautious rather than raucous, yet a sharp new-ball burst and a blazing powerplay could still keep Knight Riders’ season alive for one more night.
