Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders IPL Tips: Back cool-hand Kuldeep to win it for DC

• Delhi 1.8910/11 favourites

• But Capitals wobble needs to end

• KKR making changes with wins needed

• Venkatesh in the win zone

• Kuldeep strong on match-ups

Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders
Tuesday 29 April, 15:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders IPL team news

Delhi Capitals were surprisingly insipid against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Beaten by six wickets there is evidence of a malaise stretching back to their Super Over win over Rajasthan Royals. That they struggled against that opponent was, perhaps, a warning.

What is of most concern is that against RCB they fielded what was probably their best XI. With Faf Du Plessis fit and Jake Fraser-McGurk ousted they had few excuses. Delhi have all bases covered. 

Probable DC XI: Porel, Du Plessis, Nair, Rahul, Axar, Stubbs, Ashutosh (Mukesh sub), Vipraj, Starc, Chameera, Kuldeep 

KKR are still alive after the rain came to their rescue chasing 201 against Punjab. They took a point and will need a minimum of four wins from their final five matches to stand any chance of a play-off.

Rovman Powell was included in their XI for the clash with fears about the reliability with the bat. Moeen Ali was dropped. Chetan Sakariya  got a role as the impact player with the ball. We don't mind that. he has decent numbers. 

Probable KKR XI: Gurbaz, Narine, Venkatesh, Rahane, Rinku, Powell, Raghuvanshi (Sakariya sub), Russell, Ramandeep, Harshit, Varun

Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders IPL pitch report

Seven of the last eight first-innings at the Arun Jaitley have busted 200. But only two of those were this season and Delhi's miserable plod to 168 against RCB will not encourage punters to have faith in understanding the surface. When a wicket falls between road and a middling surface in such a short space we have to decide whether it was a one off (due to good bowling) or something more long term. And once deliberations are done it is hard not to come to the conclusion and just say: let's see what the surface looks like early doors.

A par line sell at 181.5 will be for those who reckon the the square is now tired and slow. If you're searching for runs value the 5/61.84 that KKR make over 181.5 is a bet in the context of the 8/111.73 offered by Sportsbook for both teams to hit 180. 

Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders match prediction

Delhi are 1.8910/11 favourites to record a seventh win and head a crisis off at the path. There is often a fast-starting team who loses their way in IPL and there will be concerns this year that it could be them.

But really they should have too much for a KKR team who have been unreliable from game one. Their combination of chaos, confusion and lack of confidence makes for a good match-up against Delhi.

It could be that the Capitals are a team who bridge the gap betwen the really good sides and the also-rans. A settled, efficient side, however, deserves respect at the odds against a KKR team who are beginning to search for new combinations.

Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders IPL player bets

Venkatesh Iyer has been KKR's most reliable batter in the previous two years. He has won once this year (five games ago) and it could be time to start hitting the 4/15.00 for another top-bat success. There have been rumours that he will bat at No 3 (a promotion) and he appeared to be carded as such in the washout against Punjab. 

With the ball, Kuldeep Yadav has an excellent head-to-head record against individual KKR bats. He has won four times on top bowler but two blanks in the last two. Given the significant issue KKR have had against spin in their last two defeats (Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Yuz Chahal and even Glenn Maxwell), it is reasonable to expect Kuldeep to cause them problems. Sportsbook make him a 13/53.60 chance. 

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