Delhi Daredevils (DD) will square off with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 26 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla. The first leg of this league could not produce cliffhangers that would keep the crowd on its feet. Now that the Playoffs race has intensified, all the teams have been leaving no stone unturned to put up a commanding contest, resulting in nail-biting spectaculars. As both teams feature T20 stalwarts as well as young guns, this match promises to deliver fireworks that would set the Feroz Shah Kotla on fire. Chris Morris vs Sunil Narine, Gautam Gambhir vs Zaheer Khan and other battles that are sure to blaze away your super Saturday. DD placed fourth in the table, would look for a win here to take another step towards the playoffs. As is evident from what is at stake, this is certain to be a thrilling encounter. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2016, Match 26 at Delhi
Gautam Gambhir vs Zaheer Khan: In the first encounter between these teams, we saw Gambhir taking Zaheer to the cleaners in his very first over. Zaheer had a plan in place: bowl on middle and leg, trapping Gambhir in front by seaming it away. However, Gambhir tackled Zaheer’s plan by clearing the front leg and spanking him on the leg side.
Gambhir has been in an ominous touch of late and is the top run-scorer for the mighty KKR. On the other hand, Zaheer has finally found his swing and accuracy back. Though he took his time to get back to his lethal best, he has been deceiving the batsman with change of pace and providing impetus in the batting Powerplay as well as the death over. Nonetheless, both veterans are likely to battle in the first few overs, and it would be interesting to see Zaheer avenge Gambhir’s earlier encounter.
Andre Russell vs Imran Tahir: Russell has been consistent in playing cameos that helped his team scale up the run-rate in the middle as well as death overs. With the top order facing most of the overs, Russell has not had enough opportunity to go all guns blazing. He was once promoted up the order in Manish Pandey’s absence but could not provide impetus. However, he’d be keen to make amends and bog down Tahir with his colossal sixes. Tahir has played only 2 matches so far, but has 3 scalps already under his belt. If he dismantles Russell with his wily flippers, we might see the South African entertaining the crowd with his unusual yet exuberant celebrations. Read: Kolkata Knight Riders aim to go table-top
Quinton de Kock vs Shakib Al Hasan: With a half-century as well as century to his name in this season of IPL, de Kock has taken the cricketing world by storm with his elegant stroke-making. Be it chasing or setting up a respectable total for the team, he has done it all. The game being at DD’s home ground, he will be all set to play yet another blistering innings. However, given de Kock is a potent threat against the pacers, skipper Gambhir is likely to play him against Shakib’s slow left-arm spin. Shakib has a reputation of restricting the best of the batsmen from going big. If he’s pit against de Kock with the new ball, this match will get even fierier.
Chris Morris vs Sunil Narine: All eyes will be on these two magicians tonight. While one has the knack of tangling the batsmen in trance with his superior spin, the other can leave you startled with his power-hitting skills. Arguably this has to be the mother of all the battles. While Narine has not let the batsmen free their arms, Morris has cleared any length over the boundary line this summer. With his record 17-ball half century in DD’s previous contest, Morris will be furious to take one of the wiliest spinners to the cleaners. Indeed Narine won’t let him do so with ease and grace.
(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_.)
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