Knights bank on favoured Sharjah against DC in bid for final spot

Couple of years ago at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the groundsman had assured Ricky Ponting of producing the venue's "best pitch" of the season thus far. It was clearly the best bet for a Delhi Capitals side that had beaten Mumbai Indians in flat conditions of the Wankhede but struggled on the low, slow pitches back home. Come the judgement day against Sunrisers Hyderabad, DC lost again, on yet another sluggish pitch, prompting Ponting to call the surface "by far and away, the worst."

Familiar conditions will greet DC's head coach for Qualifier 2 in Sharjah but what stands changed from 2019 is the make-up of the side. Pacers Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Avesh Khan might have grabbed the headlines but the spinners have been quietly going about their job, picking the third-most number of wickets behind their counterparts in Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. And they have done so in a significantly lesser number of overs than say KKR. What DC would want, though, is for Ravichandran Ashwin to strike form; the offspinner has picked only 5 wickets in 12 matches and hasn't even bowled out his quota of overs in the last two games.

For KKR, the occasion is perfect in Sharjah. They play a second consecutive knockout game at one of their favourite venues, face an opposition coming in with two back-to-back defeats and know how to beat them in these conditions, having done so earlier in the competition. Incidentally, Sunil Narine was the one who made all the difference with the bat and ball in that match too.

After their four-wicket win over RCB in the Eliminator, captain Eoin Morgan acknowledged how the bowlers have led with "Baz's mantra" of free-spirited cricket in the UAE leg. But if they are to move past the all-round challenge of DC, the batsmen will have to join in too. None of them feature in the top ten run-getters this season as opposed to three from DC but there are sparks. The KKR batsmen have already shown nous and game plan in Sharjah, using the shorter boundaries to hit sixes and making the playing conditions redundant, and it's about time that the finishers amp up their game too. Dinesh Karthik and Morgan have averaged 27 and 13 respectively this season, and it reflects in how KKR have the worst death-over batting stats of all the four qualified teams.

When: DC vs KKR, Qualifier 2, October 13, 2021, 7:30 pm IST

Where: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah

What to expect: A familiar surface in Sharjah. The ball will come on for the batters in the powerplay before the shine goes away and run-scoring becomes difficult. 6 out of 9 games here have been won by sides batting second. KKR will take relief from the fact that they've done it here by both batting first (vs RR) and bowling first (vs DC and RCB). Delhi, on the other hand, have only one win in two games here this season, and it came against MI whilst batting second.

Head to head: DC 12- 15 KKR. The last time these two sides met, KKR won by 3 wickets. DC were restricted to 127/9 and