The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) go from the financial capital of India to the political capital of the country, with the hope of a change in fortunes. Losing to the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Thursday would make it a hat-trick of losses for KKR, on the back of defeats against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Mumbai Indians (MI). However, it is DC who are in dire straits, as they are yet to open their points account for the season. Would it be sixth time lucky for the Capitals against KKR?
The two franchises have met 31 times, with KKR narrowly leading the head-to-head with 16 victories to DC’s 14 (one was a no result). Incidentally, it took KKR three editions of IPL cricket to register the first of their 16 wins against Delhi, which finally came in April 2010. Unsurprisingly, Gautam Gambhir, who has been a key player for both teams over the years, leads the run-scoring charts in this fixture with 568 runs, ahead of Shreyas Iyer (456) and Robin Uthappa (392). Sunil Narine is once again the most successful bowler in these face-offs, tied for most wickets with Umesh Yadav on 19, which is better than Andre Russell’s 13 and Piyush Chawla’s 12.
Before KKR and DC renew their rivalry in 2023, My Kolkata would like to refresh your memories by revisiting three key moments from KKR-DC encounters over the years.
Kuldeep returns to haunt KKR
Kuldeep Yadav picked up eight wickets across two games for DC against KKR last season TT Archives
Kuldeep Yadav made his former team pay last season by inspiring two victories for DC against KKR in Mumbai. After he had picked up four for 35 in the first match between the two in 2022, Kuldeep repeated the trick at the Wankhede Stadium in late April. Batting first, KKR had hobbled their way to 146, with Kuldeep breaking the back of Kolkata’s middle order, all for just 14 runs in four overs. In pursuit, sloppy DC made heavy weather of a small total, but eventually crossed the line thanks to a steady hand from David Warner and enterprising cameos from Rovman Powell and Axar Patel.
The Shreyas Iyer show, but for DC
Shreyas Iyer was in devastating form when DC hosted KKR in 2018 TT Archives
It is rare that a team bats first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi and posts 219 runs on the board. It is rarer still that the team doing so is DC, who have not had the rub of the green (quite literally) at home for many years. In April 2018, an exception to the rule arrived thanks mainly to a masterclass from Shreyas Iyer, then the batting fulcrum of the Capitals. Iyer’s splendid innings of 93 off just 40 balls, along with a fiery 62 from Prithvi Shaw, gave KKR’s batters too much to do. A haphazard chase saw the visitors limited to 164, with four DC bowlers getting two wickets each to help their team to a comfortable 55-run win.
Sunil Narine’s spin web leaves DC in knots
Sunil Narine ensured that DC did not get going on the opening day of IPL 2013 at Eden TT Archives
KKR and DC kicked off IPL 2013 at the Eden Gardens in the most spectacular fashion, with a pinpoint delivery from Brett Lee sending Unmukt Chand’s stumps flying off the very first ball of the season. DC never really recovered from that early setback, despite a composed half century from Mahela Jayawardene. Sunil Narine’s four for 13 meant that the DC batting could never get any momentum into their innings. Chasing just 129, then defending champions KKR stuttered slightly in the middle, but ultimately got the all-important first win of the campaign with eight balls and six wickets to spare.