Sharjah: A dominant Delhi Capitals will fancy their chances of securing a play-off berth when they face Kolkata Knight Riders.
A cloud of uncertainty over KKR's injured all-rounder Andre Russell's participation gives Delhi more reasons to feel optimistic ahead of their afternoon match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Eyeing a maiden title triumph, DC are on a roll having dominated most of their opponents with an aggressive brand of cricket this season, and look pretty confident of not just making the play-offs but also doing one better than last year when they lost to Mumbai Indians in the summit showdown.
DC, led by Rishabh Pant, are placed second in the pecking order with eight wins and 16 points from 10 outings, while two-time winners KKR find themselves in the fourth position with four wins and six defeats. While the Delhi Capitals are coming off a crushing win over Rajasthan Royals in the previous outing, KKR will enter the game after having suffered a reversal at the hands of Chennai Super Kings, despite setting a stiff target of 172 on Abu Dhabi's big ground.
KKR missed Russell towards the end after he walked off the field with a hamstring problem, having bowled three decent overs.
In his absence, Prasidh Krishna was given the responsibility of bowling the 19th over and even though he has impressed with his death bowling in the past, he had no answer to a marauding Ravindra Jadeja on Sunday.
Up against one of the in-form teams of this edition, KKR will have their task cut out when they take to the field against DC.
Eoin Morgan and his team know there will be very little margin for error as they head into a game which is more crucial from their point of view as far as keeping their play-offs prospects are concerned.
