IPL 2022 DC vs KKR - time to start winning for both sides

Key match stats DC vs KKR

Pitch Stats – Wankhede Stadium

Average first innings score: 170
Average first innings winning score: 186
Average powerplay score: 43
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 56% / 44%

Team form DC vs KKR
DC – LWLWL
KKR – LLLLW
Recent meetings: DC won by 44 runs

DC vs KKR Preview

A massive game for both sides as they desperately try to stay in touch with the chasing pack.

For KKR in particular, following such a bright start to the season they have now lost their last 4 and looked well beaten in each of those games.

A bowling attack that was once dominant is now struggling to take wickets and contain opposition batsmen. Pat Cummins paid the price for those failings in the last match by being dropped and you wonder how much longer KKR can persist with the likes of Varun Chakravarthy.

Matches	Wickets	Economy
First 4 games	24	7.3
Last 4 games	22	9.5

KKR's bowling stats in the first 4 matches of IPL 2022 vs their last 4

Similarly, at the top of the order the Knight Riders are struggling to find a combination that can put winning runs on the board. It was a little surprising that Aaron Finch was bumped having scored a half-century and it wouldn't surprise me if he was reinstated for this game given that he averages over 40 at the Wankhede.

As for DC, it's been a topsy turvy kind of season for them. Players arriving late from international duty, a Covid outbreak and then the incident at the end of their last match where Rishabh Pant and the Capitals bench decided they wanted to take over the role of the match officials.

It's good to see that the IPL has taken swift action to fine Pant, Thakur and assistant coach Pravin Amre who also received a 1 match suspension for walking onto the field. I would have gone further and suspended Pant for a game as well! He was certainly chief instigator in the descent and as captain has to be held responsible for the behaviour of his players and support staff.

In fact, what DC should be more concerned about from that performance was that their bowlers leaked runs far too easily, they got their batting line-up wrong by holding Rovman Powell back until too late and they allowed a wicket maiden to be bowled in the 19th over. These were all controllable elements of their defeat against the Royals whereas umpire decisions whether right or wrong aren't!

It means that DC have now lost 2 from 2 at the Wankhede while for KKR they are returning to a venue where they won their opening 2 games with relative ease.

Since then, there is no doubt that the pitches are beginning to change with less movement for the quicks up front and less pace for the batsmen to work with. Still, the Wankhede tends to offer something for everyone and so for 2 teams that are at least on paper well balanced it'll come down to a case of who performs best on the night.

DC vs KKR head to head

KKR bowling vs DC batting

Tim Southee came in for KKR's last match and performed well against league leader Gujarat Titans. If KKR decide to stick with him for this game then he'll face arguably the most explosive opening combination in IPL 2022 in David Warner and Prithvi Shaw both of whom are scoring at over 10 an over while the field restrictions are in place. Southee's head to head record against the pair is also a cause for concern.

Southee vs Warner and Pant combined head to head T20 stats

Southee's new ball partner will likely be Umesh Yadav who enjoyed a good record at the Wankhede coming into this tournament and has only improved on it with 2 man of the match performances since.

As noted above though, we are seeing less and less movement at the Wankhede for the seamers with the new ball so how effective he will be today against a very strong Capitals line-up remains to be seen.

In fact, while Umesh is currently in joint 1st place for the number of wickets taken in the powerplay in IPL 2022 (6 wickets), he hasn't struck during that phase of the game in his last 4 matches which is testament both to the changing nature of the pitches and the struggles that this KKR bowling unit has suffered from of late.

Umesh Yadav T20 career stats at the Wankhede

DC will hope to finally have last year's World Cup star Mitch Marsh available following his bout of Covid. If he is fit then presumably he'll come straight in for Sarfraz Khan who batted at number 3 against the Royals.

The fact that DC only played with 3 overseas players in that match means that for now, they probably don't have to make a selection call on Rovman Powell, unless of course Nortje is also fit for a recall.

The big West Indian's swashbuckling cameo at this ground last time around papers over the cracks of what has otherwise been a disappointing campaign so far with his vulnerability against spin of particular concern, a fact that fellow countryman Sunil Narine has exposed in the past.

Narine vs Powell T20 head to head

DC bowling vs KKR batting

Kolkata's powerplay has been a major concern all season both in regards the number of runs the top order are delivering and the wickets that are lost.

Team	Average wickets lost in powerplay	Run rate in powerplay
CSK	2.0	6.8
KKR	2.0	7.2
RCB	1.8	6.5

Teams losing on average the most wickets during the powerplay in IPL 2022

At a ground where as I've highlighted in previous blogs the need to keep wickets in hand for the later part of the innings is crucial then surely if KKR are to have a chance in this match, they need to perform significantly better in this phase of the game.

Coincidentally, the Capitals have had the least penetration with the ball in the powerplay during IPL 2022 as shown below. What is the opposite of the paradox of when an immovable object and irresistible force meet? In this match we'll find out...

Team	Wickets taken in the powerplay	Economy in the powerplay
DC	8	7.6
LSG	11	8.3
RCB	11	7.9
MI	11	7.5

Least wickets taken in the powerplay during IPL 2022

If KKR can make it through that period and begin to build a score then as we saw in DC's match against the Royals and prior to that RCB, this isn't a venue that many of their bowlers have particularly good records at and a few of KKR's big hitters late in the order might be in business with the shorter boundaries if they are given the platform to launch from.

Bowler	Wickets	Average	Economy
SN Thakur	10	40.7	9.5
Mustafizur	8	53.6	9.3
AR Patel	6	39.5	8.8
KK Ahmed	5	25.0	10.4
Kuldeep Yadav	2	69.0	10.6
Total	31	44.8	9.5

DC's primary 5 bowlers in IPL 2022 career T20 stats at the Wankhede

All stats used in this blog are from my own database. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images which are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free