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The Kolkata Knight Riders chose to bowl after Ajinkya Rahane won the toss against the Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital.
KKR are currently eighth in the table with seven points, while DC are placed seventh with eight points. Both teams are in desperate need of a result to boost their bid to reach the playoff spot.
Speaking after the toss, Rahane said that his players are raring to go after a little break.
“We`re going to bowl first. The last 3-4 games, whatever we saw, it`s been kind of very different games, 264, 160, the low scoring game against RCB as well, so I thought it`s important to see the wicket, see how it`s playing and then it becomes easier to bat on. But having said that, no matter winning the toss or losing the toss, it`s all about playing good cricket for 40 overs. See, it`s difficult, frankly, it`s difficult to read the wicket. It`s important when you start, whether you`re going to bowl first or bat first, to assess the conditions and react to the situation and the conditions accordingly. The team`s been amazing, the mood in the group has been amazing.” he Rahane.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel was happy to bat first. He revealed that the hosts will go into the game with three spinners and pacers each.
“Batting first or bowling, you know, that thought is not in our hands. So, as a team, you should be ready whether it’s batting first or bowling first. You just have to be on your toes from the very first ball; that is very important. There are two changes in my team – Mukesh Kumar is in place of Natarajan, and Vipraj Nigam is in. As much as I have played on Delhi wickets, I feel there isn’t too much spin, but because of a little slowness, you know, the ball comes a bit slower after pitching. So I think spinners get a little help. So I thought of using a combination of three spinners and three fast bowlers. I feel that instead of focusing on the boundary size, you should focus on your own good bowling. Winning with good balls is very important.” said Patel.
Confirmed playing XI for both teams:
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
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