Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 48th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Preview by Gokul Gopal

After starting the tournament with four successive wins, Delhi Capitals have blown hot and cold. They have suffered three losses in their last five matches, and it could have been four, if not for some Mitchell Starc magic in a Super Over finish against Rajasthan Royals. Their homecoming hasn't been ideal either, with two defeats in three matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Yet, despite their latest loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, DC remain in the top half of the points table and are still in contention for a top-two finish. The same, however, cannot be said for their opponents on Tuesday.

Kolkata Knight Riders had an inconsistent start to their campaign, winning three and losing three. Thanks to some big-margin victories, though, their net run rate stayed positive, and just three matches ago, they were in a position to even top the table after bowling Punjab Kings out for 111. But the slide began in that very game, when they were bundled out for 95. Since then, they've lost to Gujarat Titans and endured a no-result at home due to rain. With only a solitary win in five attempts at Eden Gardens and just seven points from nine matches, the Knight Riders will be hoping for a turnaround away from home - starting with the DC clash, the first of their three remaining away games.

Having fallen short in the chase of 206 against Mumbai Indians at home, DC lost to GT after posting in excess of 200 while they weren't able to defend 162 against RCB despite showing some fight early on with the ball. Even in the game against RR, DC just about managed to force the affair into a Super Over after getting a first-innings total of 188. The batters have all got starts but haven't been able to convert them into a game-changing contribution, and Axar Patel and Co. will be eager to make amends quickly.

For KKR, the bulk of their troubles have stemmed from batting struggles, particularly in their last two defeats. Their issues at the top have been glaring - they remain the only team without a fifty-plus opening stand this season, with just 159 runs coming from their first-wicket partnerships across nine innings. The middle order hasn't fared much better in recent games, with their Nos 4-8 having the worst average (20.00) among all teams, compounding KKR's problems. With six teams well ahead of them in the standings, they need to find solutions quickly, as time is fast running out.

When: DC vs KKR - Tuesday, April 29 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

What to expect: The surface for the previous game was on the drier side, offering more assistance to the spinners, particularly in the first innings. With dew also likely to play a role, teams would prefer to chase here, while a total in the 190-200 range should be considered a strong one to defend.

Head to head: KKR have a 18-15 lead over DC in contests between these two sides. But since 2022, DC have an upper hand, having won three out of five. At the Arun Jaitley stadium it's an even 5-5 but KKR last win against DC here came in 2017, with three defeats since that, including a Super Over finish in 2019.

Team watch

Delhi Capitals

Injury/unavailability: Faf du Plessis returned for the last game after missing a few matches due to a groin injury. He looked a bit rusty during his 26-ball stay for only 22 runs but DC are likely to persist with him and retain the same combination.

Tactics & matchups: While most of the batters in the current DC line-up do not have favourable match-ups against the KKR spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, KL Rahul has fared slightly better. Rahul has scored 114 runs off 85 balls against Narine, and despite being dismissed twice, he averages 57.00 with a strike rate of 134.12 against him. Rahul has been slower against Varun, with 45 runs off 46 balls, with one dismissal.

Meanwhile, the DC spinners could prove handy going against Ajinkya Rahane, who has struggled a bit against spin this season. He has 81 runs in 100 balls against spin, averaging 20.00 with a strike rate of 123.46 and a boundary percentage of 12.3. Dushmantha Chameera could also prove useful against Andre Russell, with the Sri Lankan pacer having dismissed him thrice in 17 balls in T20 cricket.

Probable XII: Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Ashutosh Sharma

Kolkata Knight Riders

Injury/unavailability: Harshit Rana appeared in a lot of pain, hurting his elbow after diving to catch a ball next to the practice pitches in the previous game against PBKS, and did not bowl after that. But the pacer, who attended the press conference on the eve of the match with a bandage to his elbow, said he was fit and good to go. Meanwhile, considering the surface might aid spin, Moeen Ali is likely to slot in for Rovman Powell while KKR might opt for an extra batting option like Ramandeep Singh or Manish Pandey.

Tactics & matchups: While the rest of the players were either playing football or involved in other drills, Russell was the first to hit the nets as he faced a variety of throwdowns, including a left-armer, and was busy dispatching them across the fence. Although he hasn't been at his best this season, Russell will be a vital cog for KKR against Starc. The West Indian hasn't been dismissed yet by the left-arm pacer in all T20s and has scored 55 runs off 23 balls at a strike rate of 239.13.

Meanwhile, Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine will be the key bowlers for KKR, with the two spinners having favourable match-ups against a majority of the opposition batters. Axar Patel has been dismissed twice by Varun and has scored only 7 off 23, while he has been dismissed thrice by Narine for 35 runs off 29 balls, Faf du Plessis and Tristan Stubbs have been dismissed twice each by Varun.

Probable XII: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh/Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Moeen Ali, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Did you know?

- DC have used as many as five players in the opening position this season - the most for any team - and their opening partnership average of 24.22 is the third lowest among all teams, just above CSK and KKR

- Mitchell Starc picked up nine wickets in his first three IPL 2025 matches, at an average of 11.56 and an economy of 8.91. But in his last six outings, has has bagged only three wickets, averaging 109.50, with an economy of 10.77, and has gone wicketless in the powerplay

- Ajinkya Rahane has scored 205 runs in four innings, with an average of 51.25 and a strike rate of 158.91 at Eden Gardens in this edition. However, in away matches, he has only 66 runs in four innings, averaging 22 with a strike rate of 117.85.

What they said:

"We haven't quite hit our perfect game yet as a team so I don't really think it's the wicket that we should be discussing. I think it's more, we haven't really played that complete game. For us to be sitting where we're sitting with 12 points knowing that we actually haven't really hit our straps in all departments is a good thing. We haven't played our perfect match yet and I do believe that it's coming" - Kevin Pietersen, mentor of Delhi Capitals.

Squads:

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anrich Nortje, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Quinton de Kock, Spencer Johnson, Mayank Markande, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh

Delhi Capitals Squad: Abishek Porel, Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira, Darshan Nalkande, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L