What

Match 17 of Pepsi IPL 2015 will feature the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders pitted against the Delhi Daredevils.

The smiles are back in the Delhi Daredevils camp with back-to-back wins – first over Kings XI Punjab and then over Sunrisers Hyderabad – a feat they’ve achieved for the first time since May 2013. After losing 11 matches in a row, those two wins must have certainly reduced the pressure and the players must be all charged up and looking forward to stitching together a string of wins. It is said one win can change it all. In DD’s case the players will surely start believing in their abilities more and looking forward to competing now more than ever in recent times.

In their previous match against Kings XI Punjab, KKR showed why they are the defending champions. Despite being reduced to 60 for 5 in a chase of 156, the side found a new saviour in Andre Russell who blitzed his way and helped the team to a resounding victory. A lot of sport is played in the mind; it is believed that confidence can work wonders, and that victory – clinched from the jaws of defeat – will certainly boost the confidence further in the KKR camp.

When

20 April 2015, 8p.m. IST

Where

Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium, Delhi

The Protagonists

On the batting front, DD have found new performers with the bat in each of their four matches. But it is the two left-handers in the middle-order – skipper JP Duminy and Yuvraj Singh - who can cause most damage in little time. Duminy – the team’s top run-getter this season - has scored runs in the last three innings and will be looking to carry his form through the rest of the season. The two leg-spinners Imran Tahir and Amit Mishra will be at the forefront of DD’s bowling plans.

KKR play best when the opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa set up the match by batting the bulk of the innings. On the bowling front, KKR’s comfort factor is when their spinners find conditions where they can spin a web around the batsmen. Narine hasn’t been the same bowler he once was since returning to the field this season; the Trinidadian has so far picked up one wicket from three matches and KKR expect a lot more from him.

Contests to look-forward to

The two most experienced and dangerous batsmen in the Delhi Daredevils ranks are skipper JP Duminy and Yuvraj Singh. How the two left-handers shape up against KKR’s mystery spinner Sunil Narine will have a significant say in how the match shapes up.

The other contest that promises to be interesting is KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir - who is considered the best player of spin among opening batsmen – pitted against the two leg-spinners in the Delhi Daredevils ranks.

Previous Meetings

Kolkata Knight Riders have their noses slightly in front where historical contests between them and Delhi Daredevils are concerned; they have won 7 of the 13 matches, while DD have prevailed in the remaining six.

Last season, the honours were split evenly, with both teams winning one match apiece. DD won the first meeting of the season in Dubai by 4 wickets, before KKR returned the favour, winning by 8 wickets in Delhi.

Trivia

The last time before now that the Delhi Daredevils had won two games in a row was in May 2013 when they beat Pune Warriors India (28 April 2013) by 15 runs and followed it up with a 7-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders (1 May 2013). Since then, the franchise has played 24 matches.

The leg-spinner Piyush Chawla needs two more wickets to become the fourth bowler to take 100 wickets in the IPL. From 101 matches so far (for Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders), he has an economy rate of 7.54 and has returns of 98 wickets at a strike-rate of a wicket every 21 deliveries.

What Next

While the Delhi Daredevils will remain at home and prepare to host the Mumbai Indians on April 23, the Kolkata Knight Riders will head southwards to Visakhapatnam for their away fixture against the Sunrisers Hyderbad on April 22.