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IPL 2021 | KKR vs DC: Refreshed Knight Riders search turnaround, in-form Delhi seek consolidation

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The second phase of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League is up and running and so are the contenders for the top four spots on the points table. 

The Delhi Capitals and the Chennai Super Kings have maintained their form and momentum from the first phase while others such as the Kolkata Knight Riders have used the break well to fine-tune their tactics in the run for the playoffs stage.

The Kolkata Knight Riders have finally started playing the brand of cricket their skipper, Eoin Morgan and coach Brendan McCullum are known for, and no wonder the aggressive approach has brought them back in the reckoning for a spot in the final four.

They have started to look like a fearless batting group with the likes of Shubman Gill taking the game to the opposition while the emergence of young Venkatesh Iyer has provided a lease of life to the Knight Riders top order.

Their bowling attack perfectly mixed up of experienced campaigners and new blokes on the bloc are not leaving any stone unturned to stop the opposition batsmen.

On the other hand, the Capitals have been an indomitable force like all the past few seasons. They have bettered the opposition side in all aspects of the game with significant ease. If the batsmen have clicked, they have made a light work of the opposition bowling attack while the ever so reliant bowling attack led by the express duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje leaves nothing to chance. Wiliness of Ravichandran Ashwin and the immaculate control of Axar Patel gives them immense depth in the bowling attack.

The Knight Riders were resurgent at the second phase of the tournament but they have been unlucky in terms of schedule by having two consecutive games against the most functional teams of the competitions. They fought hard against the all-around brilliant Super Kings side and came second only on the final ball which should give them and their fans a lot of confidence going into the next match against another behemoth of the tournament in Delhi Capitals.

They have a lot of worries to sort as well with two of their biggest match-winners with the bat under some doubt. Andre Russell injured his hamstring against the Super Kings and might miss the big game while the Knight Riders will also be concerned about the harrowing run of form of their captain Morgan.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals: Match Details

Match no.: 41

Date and time: September 28, 15:30 IST (10:00 GMT), 14:00 LOCAL

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Pitch and weather

The scene of batsmen clearing their front foot and hitting the bowlers outside off the ground that was so prevalent last season, has become part of a distant memory in the few matches of this time around. Instead, the batsmen have struggled to get off the square at Sharjah and the trend is likely to continue in the upcoming game as well.

In all the matches that have been played so far in the season, teams have tried their best to maximised the fielding restriction and hard, new ball which has also opened up wicket-taking opportunities for bowlers. 

The Capitals have a well-rounded bowling attack with the likes of Avesh Khan exploiting the new ball and the Rabada-Nortje duo exploiting the eagerness of batsmen to hit big shots against the new ball. The pitches have gripped and Rishabh Pant would bank on his spinners, especially, Ashwin to spin a web around the Knight Riders batsmen.

Team News

Kolkata Knight Riders

The injury to Russell will come as a huge setback for the Knight Riders but it can also open a door of opportunity for Shakib Al Hassan and the Bangladesh all-rounder could not ask for any better conditions than the one at Sharjah to leave a lasting impression on the KKR management.

The men in purple and gold would also be worried over the lack of form and batting rhythm of Eoin Morgan, who has not managed too many runs in this edition.

Prasidh Krishna was very poor both in execution and in his approach and Morgan could think of bringing either Sandeep Warrier or Shivam Mavi back in the playing XI.

Probable XI

Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Shakib Al Hasan, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sandeep Warrier

Delhi Capitals

Of the two teams, the Capitals have a lot less to worry about going into the game against the Knight Riders, but the lack of firepower in the lower middle order will be a cause of concern.

They missed the flamboyance of Marcus Stoinis in the last game against the Rajasthan Royals and the issue was compounded with even Rishabh Pant finding it tough to time the ball.

Shimron Hetmyer batted at number six position and the Capitals were on course for a big total till he was at the crease and after his departure, Lalit Yadav failed to provide perfect tempo to the batting. They need Axar Patel, the batsman to stand up in the absence of Stoinis to lif the team’s total and chances of winning in the last few overs.

Avesh Khan has been good with both new and old ball in the tournament but the Capitals could consider bringing Amit Mishra as a horse for course with an eye on the pitch at Sharjah.

Probable XI

Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan

KKR vs DC: Fantasy XI

Rishabh Pant, Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Sunil Narine, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna

Captain: Kagiso Rabada

Vice-captain: Varun Chakravarthy

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Exhausted Moeen Ali walks away from Test cricket with missed opportunities, unfulfilled ambitions

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Moeen finished his 64-match long Test career with little distance from an iconic double landmark of 3,000 runs and 200 wickets and he did want to reach the milestones before hanging his boots. However, the final Test against India did not take place which prompted him to think “that was it”. "I felt like I was done, to be honest. I was hoping to play the last Test - there were a couple of milestones I wanted to pass - but once that game got called off, I realised that was it. Headingley was a great win but I just found I couldn't concentrate. I've played rash shots before and had poor games before. But I just felt like I wasn't in it. I've never felt that before. It's not that I didn't want to perform, I just didn't feel like I was fully wholeheartedly into it,” Moeen said. "You try your best. I just found it really hard to get in the zone bowling, batting and in the field. And the more I tried, I just couldn't do it. In the past when I came back into the team, it might take a bit of time but then I'm all in. But that series, I just couldn't do it. The atmosphere felt really good. It was really nice to be back in the dressing room. But I just found cricketing-wise it was a bit of a struggle." Moeen never went away from the radar of the selectors and the team for the longest format but since the 2019 Ashes series at home, he was never a permanent member of the side. He was brought into the squad for the second Test of the series against India in Chennai before flew back home as part of a pre-scheduled rotation policy. The move was criticised heavily and the team management was ridiculed for not having clear communication with Moeen on what sort of plan and future they have in their mind for him. Later, he was overlooked for the home series against New Zealand and then the first Test against India. Only a below-par performance in the first Test when the hosts missed the services and all-around ability of Ben Stokes that Joe Root and Chris Silverwood called him up back to the Test squad. He was stripped off England’s central contract and Moeen looks back on the development as a turning point that “did break” him up a bit. He acknowledged poor performances in the 2019 summer with the ball but also lamented inadequate preparation for bowling in Test matches against an all-strength Australia side. Moeen said that he felt he was going through the “peak” phase of his bowling and the contract snub was a tough pill to swallow. He said that the ECB explained to him that the team was not sure of the amount of cricket he will play in the longest format behind the move to not give him a contract. Having seen his career at crossroads, he decided to explore career opportunities in franchise cricket and by the time England recalled him to the Test squad against India in Chennai, he was already destined on a different path. "That did break me a little bit. I felt like I had a poor game [at Edgbaston in 2019] and rightly got dropped. But I felt I was at my peak in my bowling to that point. If you look back now, I didn't play towards the back end of the World Cup. We then had a Test against Ireland in which I hardly bowled and then two days of training for the first Ashes Test. It rained on those days, so I bowled indoors. "So, I didn't really get the preparation I would have liked and I didn't bowl very well in that game. But I felt like I was still at the peak of my bowling. Prior to that, I was bowling better than I ever had in Test cricket. And then I didn't get a contract. I had asked for a break and was told it was because they weren't sure how much I was going to play. It was very disappointing at the time. So I looked to crack on and play franchise cricket. "But then it possibly took too long to make my way back into the team. I didn't play enough first-class cricket and by the time I did get back into the team for that one Test in Chennai, I was on a different path. I don't think I lost interest in Test cricket but I think I lost the ability to do it as best as you can. Moeen was in contention to play another Ashes series in Australia irrespective of his harrowing record in the country and he admitted that the ambition of playing a high-profile series on the pitches he has not done well so far crossed his mind. However, he chose to walk out of it citing his own uncertainty and said that the feeling he developed while playing against India was strong enough to call it a day. "There was part of me thinking about the Ashes this winter. I would have loved to go back and do well because last time I didn't do so well. But I just felt like I couldn't do it for that long. It's such a long trip if I'm not 'in it'. If I felt like I did in India when I was out there, then I would probably retire after one match. So it's done, Moeen said. England will have to quickly find a spin-bowling all-rounder as the readymade option of playing Moeen Ali on spin-friendly condition is shut once for all. England don’t have a rich cupboard of spinners and Moeen’s retirement will only compound the complexity and spin-bowling issues for England cricket and the team management led by Root and Silverwood.

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Virat Kohli comes to Ishan Kishan's rescue as left-hander struggles for runs before World T20

After having a stellar run of form with the bat in the last season of the Indian Premier League, Ishan Kishan is going through a tough phase where runs are hard to come by from his bat and there is no better man than India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli to discuss those issues. After the game between the RCB and the Mumbai Indians, in which the men in red and gold won by a big margin, Kishan was seen having an emotional discussion with Kohli. In a video that went viral on social media, Kohli is seen having a calm and candid conversation with Kishan and he might well be giving him the confidence to continue playing the attacking game. He has been found unclear on what should be the perfect way to get out of the slump in form. He likes to play his shots and express himself but has also shown some patience to get his eyes in before attempting to go big. However, none of those methods has worked and he has mustered 107 runs from the eight games he has played this season. Kishan is also included in India’s World T20 squad and hence his form and confidence are a key issue for the men in blue in the big global event they last won in 2007. India have banked on the stroke makers such as Kishan, Suryakumar, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to provide firepower in the middle order and hence Kohli’s chat with Kishan can also be seen in a larger context of India’s preparation for the T20 World cup.

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After 7 years of service, Moeen Ali retires from Test cricket

England all-rounder Moeen Ali is set to announce retirement from Test cricket on Monday, September 27, The Guardian reported. He has already informed his decision to the England team management led by the captain Joe Root and coach Silverwood. Moeen has been in and out of the England Test team over the last few years based on the team’s requirements. He has been in high regard of the team management and it was established when he was appointed vice-captain of the side for the fourth Test of the series against India when Jos Buttler had pulled out of the game. Moeen was in contention to travel to Australia for the Ashes series scheduled at the end of the year as well but stringent quarantine and Covid-19 protocols which have worried almost all England players may well have prompted him to take the decision. He has been a top-notch performer in the shorter versions of the game for the sides he has played in the recent past and there lies the priority of the all-rounder who some say underachieved as an international cricketer. Moeen has played 64 Test matches for England and has amassed 2,914 runs at a middling average of 28.29 that put the tag of an underachiever in perspective. He has been one of the pleasant stroke maker in the game but could not quite light up the fire in the longest format and a lot of those failures were brought upon by himself rather than bowlers putting him off his mark. He has also taken 195 wickets which is a lot for an English spinner but an average of 36.66 for a spinner who has produced some unplayable balls in his career is another evidence of him not doing justice to his potential.

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IPL 2021 | RCB vs MI: Hits and Flops as Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell hand crushing blow to Mumbai

Mumbai Indians were handed the biggest defeat in the last five years on Sunday night (September 26) by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they were bundled out for 111 in pursuit of 166. Harshal Patel was the wrecker in chief for RCB with his hattrick and a four-wicket haul as the Mumbai team were all out in 18.1 overs. With both teams having lost their initial two matches in the UAE leg of the competition, it was important for them to get back to winning ways and it was the team from Bangalore that did. Courtesy of that win, they have now strengthened their chances of making it to the Playoffs as they now have 12 points from 10 games and sit comfortably in the third position in the points table. Mumbai on the other hand are in the mix now and stand second from the bottom even though they have an equal number of points as fourth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders. Every game travels around players who were Hits and those who Flopped. This section of the match analysis is all about delving into the detailed performances of those players. Hits Glenn Maxwell It seemed that September 27 was the day of all-rounders in IPL 2021 as just after the herpes of Ravindra Jadeja in the first match of the day between CSK and KKR at Abu Dhabi, the Big Show decided to put on a show at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium with both the bat in hand and the ball. Maxwell, who was due big runs after a disappointing start to the UAE leg for both his team and himself, got going right from the word go. In the first innings, he paired up with the skipper Virat Kohli and put on 51 runs for the third wicket. With the help of his reverse sweeps and switch hits, some of which sailed over the boundary more than once, the Australian scored 56 off just 37 balls. Striking at 151 and hitting six fours and three sixes. With the ball, he was equally prudent, picking key wickets of Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya, and most importantly, giving away only 23 runs and keeping the nozzle tight in the middle overs, thereby building pressure on the MI batters. Harshal Patel Purple Patel, the Gujju grenade and whatnot, the ability to pick wickets at all moments have made Harshal Patel the talk of the town in this IPL. And few previous occasions in India, he might have missed the hattrick, but he wasn’t going to do it this time around. Bowling in the pressure situation with two of Mumbai’s most dangerous batsmen at the crease in Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, Patel faced a situation that was like make or break for him. 61 runs were needed off the last four overs and Panday and Pollard had just about got their eye in. It could have been a big 20-25 run over and the game might have turned on its head. No one would have ever imagined that the over would indeed tur the game, but for RCB. Firstly, Harshal trapped Pandya with a slower ball, which he couldn’t connect with well and was caught by Kohli at mid-off. On the very next day, with a field suggesting that he would go for a wide yorker, the Haryana bowler bluffed Pollard and got his leg stump broken with yet another slower one. His last wicket in the hattrick, Rahul Chahar was found plumb in front of the wicket as he was not able to read a salwar yorker. The medium-pacer then came back and cleaned up Adam Milne to end the game and finish with figures of 4-17 in 3.1 overs. With these four wickets, the 30-year-old has now reached 23 wickets in 10 games and is miles ahead of second-placed Avesh Khan, who has 15 wickets from the same number of games. Yuzvendra Chahal The third hit would have been Kohli for his fifty, but what Yuzvendar Chahal did was a total game-changer. With Mumbai going at almost nine runs per over in the powerplay without losing a wicket, the only thing that could have kept RCB in the game and stop the men in blue running away from it was a wicket and Chahal provided exactly that. The leg spinner trapped Quinton de Kock and thus opened the floodgates of Mumbai Indians. After de Kock, the 31-year-old also removed Ishan Kishan as the pressure piled on the Mumbai team. Chahal came back one last time and removed Bumrah to finish with brilliant figures of 3-11 in his quota of four overs. Flops Krunal Pandya The Pandya brothers, much like most of the Mumbai players and the entire team have looked upset about something. While Hardik couldn’t play in the first game, Krunal has underperformed in all three matches. When he was sent to bat ahead of his brother Hardik and Pollard, it was supposed to counter the leg-spin of Chahal, but instead, he was counter-countered by Maxwell with his off-spin. Thus, Pandya, who was supposed to sail the sinking ship to the coast, abandoned it midway, getting out of a meagre five, even after consuming 11 deliveries. With the ball, he wasn’t great either as he could not pick up a wicket, but he surely was economical, giving away only 27 runs in his four overs. Suryakumar Yadav There are many reasons why Mumbai have not been able to perform as per expectations. But if the biggest reason of all is asked, the answer will be Suryakumar Yadav’s batting. The man, who never scored below 400 in his last three seasons at Mumbai, is suddenly finding it difficult to get the bat going. In the 10 innings of this season combined, he has not been able to cross 200 even. His average is dwindling in the late 10s and he has not been able to find the middle of the bat off late. In this innings too, he was caught at fine leg, not trying to reach the ball and hit it, but by chasing a wide delivery by extending his bat to it with the body far far away from the bat. It seemed unreal to even watch it that it was the same Surya who stormed into the Indian side based on his brilliant strike play. Although it was a crushing defeat, Mumbai is known for comebacks. And in their next game, which is against Punjab Kings o the doubleheaders day, Tuesday, September 28, the men in blue look to make yet another remarkable comeback. For RCB though, they need to continue their newfound momentum when they meet Rajasthan Royals on September 29.