Defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders will look to anoint its positive record at home with another win when it meets a Delhi Daredevils under lights here at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
KKR has so far picked up seven points from five matches here and that gives it a definite advantage against the visitor which has faltered on ‘away’ outings.
Only one win separates the two teams in the league putting KKR in third place with five wins while Daredevils are a distant sixth with four wins. KKR comes to the match having convincingly defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad while the Daredevils arrive having lost to Mumbai Indians.
Knight Riders will look to their current record of having more wins (five) than losses (four) when they start their penultimate outing at home. The inconsistency of Daredevils will be another factor that will encourage the host.
The Daredevils started the season as one of the strongest teams picking up the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Angelo Mathews and Zaheer Khan, who are established stars in the T20 format.
But the team failed to realise its potential that is reflected in fact that it has lost more (six) than it has been able to win (four).
Considering its current position in the league table DD’s hopes of making it to the playoff are already diminishing and only a win against the defending champion can rekindle it.
The home side appears to have come out of a turbulent phase where it stumbled to a series of away losses after making a strong start. The last two home wins — against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad — seemed to have stabilised it.
The KKR captain Gautam Gambhir will be relying on this confidence to enhance its points tally.
The host has already started thinking beyond Sunil Narine, who is currently awaiting the report of a bowling action test after being recently reported against for ‘suspect illegal action’.
With Australian Brad Hogg and former India player Piyush Chawla doing well in the spin department, KKR’s over-reliance on Narine seems to have gone now. With eight wickets from four matches, the 44-year-old Hogg has emerged a match winner for KKR.
