IPL 2023: What Delhi Capitals need to do to beat Kolkata Knight Riders, collect first win of season

Delhi Capitals (DC) haven’t exactly had an ideal start to the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) so far, losing all five matches so far this season that has put them on the verge of elimination from the playoffs race.

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DC face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi in the second match of the Thursday double-header, and should they end up suffering a sixth defeat on the trot, they will become the first side to bow out of the IPL 2023 playoffs race.

And it has been a sharp fall from grace for the side that experienced a sudden boost to fortunes after getting a brand new name along with a new management in 2019; they would reach the playoffs for the first time in seven years that season, and would also reach the knockouts in the next two seasons — finishing runners-up in the 2020 edition in the UAE.

The side would narrowly miss out on the playoffs spot in 2022 with a fifth-place finish, but the way they’re going about business this year, it appears as if the Delhi Capitals are back to their Delhi Daredevils days, an era in which they progressed beyond the group stage just twice in 11 editions.

Among the biggest issues plaguing the Capitals this season is their batting lineup. Despite skipper David Warner having regained his touch, collecting 228 runs at an average of 45.60 after a poor run for Australia earlier this year, the Capitals have crossed the 160-mark just twice this season — against Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians, both at home — and are yet to breach the 180-mark.

Simply put, in one of the highest-scoring seasons of the IPL where even a score in excess of 200 isn’t considered safe, Delhi simply haven’t been able to muster up enough runs to give their bowling unit something to defend.

Axar Patel and Manish Pandey have shown a hint of a fight in each of Delhi’s last two matches — against MI and Royal Challengers Bangalore at home and away respectively, both scoring a half-century. Others in the team will need to step up if the Capitals finally are to put up a total that could be considered competitive.

Which also means a few heads could roll in their immediate assignment against the Knight Riders at home on Thursday, starting with Warner’s opening partner at the top of the order Prithvi Shaw, who has collected just 34 runs in five outings including two ducks, with Sarfaraz Khan likely to walk out alongside Warner at the start of the innings.

The bowling unit too has been found wanting despite the presence of a world-class pacer in Anrich Nortje and a potent spin pairing in Axar and Kuldeep Yadav. The attack nearly collected their first win against Mumbai with a superb fightback in the second half of MI’s chase of the 173-run target, but somehow lacked the finishing touch.

Miracles have been performed at the IPL in the past, and Delhi certainly can pull one off this season, so long as they make wholesale changes and skipper Warner is able to fire the unit up the right way.

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