IPL 2019 highlights: Iyer guides DC to 5-wicket win against KXIP at Kotla

Chris Gayle smashed five gargantuan sixes into the night sky before Delhi Capitals put the brakes and restricted Kings XI Punjab to 163 for seven.

6:46 PM

Delhi Capitals giving too much attention to Kotla pitch: DC bowling coach

Badree admitted that his team might be paying too much attention to the pitch.

"Yes, maybe we are thinking too much about the pitch and the away teams who do not have much time to analyse the pitch are adjusting better. I think we just need to play good cricket on the day.

"As we saw, Mumbai Indians were able to score close to 170, and that game against KKR we chased down 180-odd, so maybe we are reading too much into it, and it should be a matter of us going out there and adjusting and adapting quickly, accessing what a good total is and making necessary changes in our approach," Badree explained.

He insisted that it is not a 130-140 pitch.

"I still feel it is a 160-170 pitch as long as we can apply ourselves and set up a solid foundation. I do think it is application more than anything and maybe mentally we may have been giving the pitch more credit than we should. Therefore, it is something that we have discussed and we will look to come good tomorrow."

6:35 PM

Spinners will be very important: DC spin bowling coach Badree

Delhi Capitals spin bowling coach Samuel Badree feels that the spinners have a huge role to play on a slow pitch here and the team selection is going to be crucial ahead of their IPL match against Kings XI Punjab on Saturday.

Delhi lost to Mumbai by 40 runs here on Thursday night with the visiting team spinners playing a key role.

"I think the spinners will be very important, especially here at Kotla we have seen that the pitch is a little bit slow. There has been variable bounce and we saw that against Mumbai Indians as well. Their spinners were very crucial through the power-play and the middle overs," said Badree.

"I felt they strangled us during the overs that their spinners bowled. In the first 13 overs of our innings, I think they bowled at least 10 overs of spin, so it was a lesson for us. In terms of overall team selection, we may have missed a trick there. But our bowlers had done a great job in our last game in very tough conditions in Hyderabad so we were 100 percent backing them.

"But certainly the team selection is something to consider going into tomorrow's match against Kings XI Punjab," he added.

6:21 PM

KXIP Coach on, if Mujeeb not play today

Asked if the team will miss out if those two aren't fit for the game on Saturday, Hesson said: "If none of the two play for us tomorrow, it will be a big loss. But Murugan Ashwin has done well."

Going back to the first time these two teams met in this edition and KXIP snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, the coach said: "As for the previous game, it says that you are never out of the game and the boys will definitely keep that in the mind as that was a big win for us."

6:16 PM

KXIP head coach on Mujeeb fitness

But there are injury issues for Punjab as both Mujeeb ur Rahman and Varun Chakravarthy are injured, but the coach said that the Afghan spinner has made good progress and a call would be taken after Friday's training.

"Mujeeb has made good progress and he will train with us and then we will decide. Moises Henriques has an injury issue. Varun too is injured and we haven't seen the best of him this season. But you can't have replacement after seven games so no replacement can be asked for," he said.

6:11 PM

Kotla has been slow, will prepare accordingly: Hesson

With Delhi Capitals making a mess of their chase against Mumbai Indians on their home ground, Kings XI Punjab walk into the game on Saturday with renewed confidence and coach Mike Hesson feels that the team has studied the wicket at the Kotla and will plan accordingly.

 

"For us, it is our ability to adapt to conditions. We have been okay away from home, just haven't been across the line. The surface (at the Kotla) has been pretty consistent on how it has been on the slow side and we will prepare accordingly," he explained.

6:07 PM

Kagiso Rabada, the trump card for Delhi Capitals

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada is proving to be a trump card for Delhi Capitals in Indian Premier League (IPL) with his ability to handle pressure in crunch overs.

The 23-year-old is the leading wicket-taker, having claimed 19 wickets in nine matches.

"I've just been working on my skills in the nets, trying to improve in particular areas and also working on the things that I've worked on in the past. I try to find a combination of sticking to what works for me, and then reading the game, learning about the game, and learning what can make me a better cricketer," cricket.com.au quoted Rabada, as saying.

"It's a game of simplicity, really. I just practice my good lengths, good lines, and then look to adapt on the day to what's going to be needed, whether it be variations or whatever ball is required at any particular batsman."
 

5:47 PM

BCCI ombudsman asks Ganguly to give written submission

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ombudsman D.K. Jain on Saturday met Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President and Delhi Capitals advisor Sourav Ganguly as well as the complainants here in a conflict of interest matter against the former India skipper. After a three and half hour long discussion, Jain asked all parties to give written submissions ahead of his verdict.

Speaking after the meeting, Jain said: "Matter is sub-judice. I have heard both the parties as well as the BCCI and will soon give my order. However, since hearing is over as per principles of natural justice, both parties can give their written submissions before the final order is pronounced."
 

Three cricket fans from West Bengal -- Bhaswati Shantua, Ranjit Seal and Abhijeet Mukherjee -- had questioned Ganguly's position as CAB chief while he is advisor of the Delhi Capitals.

All that Ganguly said before leaving was that the meeting went well. The DC play Kings XI Punjab at the Kotla at 8 p.m. and the DC advisor is expected to be in the dug-out like he has been for the team right through the season.

 

5:33 PM

Here are the squad of both the teams

Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer(C), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Colin Ingram, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Ankush Bains, Chris Morris, Sherfane Rutherford, Jalaj Saxena, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nathu Singh, Bandaru Ayyappa, Colin Munro, Manjot Kalra.

Kings XI Punjab: Lokesh Rahul (WK), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Andrew Tye, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Karun Nair, Moises Henriques, Varun Chakravarthi, Harpreet Brar, Simran Singh, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Hardus Viljoen, Ankit Rajpoot, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi.

5:26 PM

PREVIEW

The wicket at the Ferozeshah Kotla once again came back to haunt Delhi Capitals and stop their three-match winning momentum on Thursday. And Kings XI Punjab will look to feed off that very advantage when they come to the Kotla on Saturday with some quality spinners in a side led by none other than R. Ashwin. With the likes of Mujeeb ur Rahman and Murugan Ashwin in the side to back skipper Ashwin, KXIP will be relishing the opportunity of playing on a low and slow Kotla wicket. Not to forget the experience of Mohammed Shami in the pace bowling department and the exuberance of Arshdeep Singh.

For Delhi, it will be about replicating their away form on home conditions as the free flowing stroke-makers in Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant have found it very difficult to adapt to the slow nature of the Kotla wicket.

Team combination apart, the Delhi batsmen must find a way to compete on their home turf if DC are to win matches and make it to the play-offs. They cannot keep using the excuse of the ball not coming onto the bat when they clearly understand that this Kotla wicket will remain like this through the tournament and it isn't a case of one off games.

The bowlers have done a far better job and apart from the death overs on Thursday, it almost looked like the DC bowlers would restrict MI to a score around the 145-150 mark. They have also been very consistent and their first wide came in the 19th over. But the batsmen must stand up and make it count as T20 cricket after all is about scoring runs and then defending them.