(Cricket news) The clash between these two heavyweights will be an interesting match up as both teams at this moment are equally matched. With KKR scripting an amazing comeback story, DC on the other hand will be trying to avenge their last year's loss in the final against Mumbai Indians. With the match played at Sharjah, both sides will look to capitalize on the slowness of the pitch as the spinners of both the teams will be key

For KKR this might be the perfect occasion for them to reach their third final as they are playing a second successive knockout game in the same venue against a side that has lost two matches in a row. Eoin Morgan has hailed the ‘Baz-mantra’ of playing fearless cricket as KKR have completely turned their season around in the second half. Their game plan at this particular venue has been simple, to play with freedom and mostly taking advantage of the shorter boundaries by hitting straight down the ground, a trend which is going to continue. The KKR spinners hold the key to their success like we saw in the last match where Varun and Shakib choked the batsman for runs and Narine picked up the big wickets, the battle between the DC middle order batsman and KKR spinners will be crucial.

Prithvi Shaw averages 64 at a strike rate of 172 against KKR and his matchup against Lockie Ferguson and maybe Shakib in the powerplay will be an intriguing watch. On the other hand Nitish Rana holds a very good record against DC as has made 277 runs in 9 matches with a strike rate of 144 and also holds the upper hand over Ashwin, having scored 76 runs from 45 balls. The KKR batsman need to evade the threat of Avesh Khan as he has picked up six wickets in two matches at Sharjah also.

DC will likely assess the situation on Marcus Stonis’ injury as he might replace Tom Curran in the playing XI if he is fit. The DC pacers have grabbed the headlines but the DC spinners have done the job quietly as they have picked up the third most wickets behind KKR and RCB. Although Axar Patel has picked up 15 wickets this season, Ashwin has only managed 5 wickets and hasn’t even bowled his full quota of overs in the last two matches. One area for concern for DC will be the form of Kagiso Rabada as he hasn’t picked up a single wicket in the last 4 matches and not taking wickets has meant that he's on the expensive side in the death overs.

Anrich Nortje enjoys a good record against Narine as he has got him out twice in eight balls and if KKR decide to use Narine as a pinch hitter then he could be brought into the attack. The DC management need to find a solution for the death overs as they have conceded 10.20 rpo between 16 to 20 overs which is the second most in the IPL this year.

Pitch and Weather report: In terms of the pitch it is going to remain the same like the last match as the shiny new ball will come on for the batters in the powerplay but as soon as the ball turns a bit old the spinners will get a lot of assistance from the pitch. The trend of winning the toss and batting second will continue as 6 out of 9 games in this venue have been won by teams batting second. The temperature will hover around 35 degrees as it will gradually get less as the evening goes on, as of now there is no chance of rain.

Head to head: DC 12 – 15 KKR, last time they met KKR won by 3 wickets as they chased down 128 in 18 overs.

Interesting facts:

• KKR and DC are the only teams with an all Indian top 4
• Except Shivam Mavi all the KKR bowlers have gone under a run a ball in Sharjah.
• Capitals have hit the most number of fours (227) and the least number of sixes (60) for any team in IPL 2021. 
• KKR have played three matches at Sharjah and have not conceded a single sixes in two matches against DC and RCB
• In the IPL playoffs, including finals, Pant has scored 199 runs in six innings, at an average of 49.75 and a strike rate of 151.91.

Also read: Our bowlers have shown us the way, says KKR skipper Morgan

Probable XI for KKR:

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Eoin Morgan (capt), 7 Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Shivam Mavi

Probable XI for RCB:

1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Marcus Stoinis/Tom Curran, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Avesh Khan