Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals will face Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders in the second qualifier for a spot in the IPL 2021 Final against Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings.
The Delhi Capitals, who are in search of their maiden IPL title, lost the first qualifier to Chennai Super Kings, courtesy of MS Dhoni’s last over heroics.
The Capitals, who made it to the 2020 final of the Indian Premier League against Mumbai Indians but failed to convert it into a championship win, are up against a KKR side that is brimming with optimism after eliminating Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore from the playoffs.
Eoin Morgan’s Kolkata Knight Riders have won the IPL title twice since the league’s inception and their journey to the 201 finals has been pretty adventurous.
The momentum is with Morgan’s squad, given that they are coming off a win against a heavy-hitting lineup of RCB after a turn of fortunes following a disastrous first half during the first leg of IPL 2021. However, they wouldn’t want to underestimate Delhi’s depth.
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The Capitals have only grown to be better since former Australian captain Ricky Ponting took over as head coach of the Delhi side, helping them finish first and second runners up in the 2020 and 2019 seasons respectively.
With Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer adding the necessary firepower, bowling masterclass Ravichandran Ashwin, Avesh Khan and Kagiso Rabada makes for the perfect balance on the team.
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For KKR, spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine hold the key to success, testing Delhi’s batting lineup every moment.
Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer and Rahul Tripathi have looked in decent form for Kolkata but captain Morgan’s stats have been slightly worrying as a batter. All the more reason for the skip to show up big against Delhi Capitals when the time comes.
