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Kolkata Knight Riders
Delhi Capitals
Kolkata Knight Riders will face Delhi Capitals in the final league match of IPL 2026 at Eden Gardens. This match will play a major role in the playoff race as KKR are still fighting for a top-four finish. KKR have 6 wins and 6 losses with a NRR of 0.011. DC are at the 8th spot and is virtually out of the playoff race for this season.
KKR will enter this contest with confidence after beating DC earlier this season. They have also dominated this rivalry recently, winning 4 of the last 5 matches between the two sides.
Three of those 5 games have been won by the chasing side, which will make the toss important at Eden Gardens. KKR will back their batting unit at home, while DC will depend on their middle order and death bowling to spoil KKRβs qualification hopes.
Mitchell Starc picked up 9 wickets in just 5 matches this season and will face KKR's inconsistent batting lineup, which has struggled against quality pace bowling.
The betting tip is...
Mitchell Starc - Over 1.5 wickets
66 %
34 %
Kolkata Knight RidersDelhi CapitalsFinn Allen has 329 runs at a strike rate of 219.33. Angkrish Raghuvanshi leads with 422 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 146.52, including 5 fifties. Rinku Singh has 295 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 149.74, while Cameron Green added 320 runs at a strike rate of 146.78.
Rahane has 272 runs. Manish Pandey and Rovman Powell scored in the 40s in the previous match and kept KKR alive in the playoff race. However, the batting unit remained inconsistent overall through the season.
Kartik Tyagi leads with 18 wickets, while Vaibhav Arora claimed 11 wickets, though both have been expensive. Sunil Narine has 14 wickets and remains the most economical bowler in the side. Varun Chakaravarthy picked up 10 wickets in 10 matches at an economy rate above 8. Anukul Roy added 8 wickets, while Cameron Green chipped in with 7 wickets.
Allen, Raghuvanshi and Tyagi are the key players.
Predicted Lineup: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kartik Tyagi
KL Rahul has 533 runs at a strike rate of 171.93 and remains their most consistent batter. Pathum Nissanka has 278 runs at a strike rate of 158.85, while Tristan Stubbs has 275 runs at 127.90.
Nitish Rana contributed 225 runs at a strike rate of 151.00. David Miller and Ashutosh Sharma provided depth in the lower middle order, but the batting lineup struggled across the season.
Axar Patel leads with 10 wickets at an economy of 8.08. Lungi Ngidi also picked up 10 wickets with a similar economy rate. Mitchell Starc took 9 wickets in just 5 games and remained their biggest wicket-taking threat. Kuldeep Yadav claimed 7 wickets, while Mukesh has 6 wickets in 10 matches. Tiwari has taken 4 wickets in 2 games.
Rahul, Axar and Starc are the key players.
Predicted Lineup: Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Sahil Parakh, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Ashutosh Sharma, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Tripurana Vijay
KKR and DC will enter this match with momentum after winning their last two games. KKR looked slightly stronger because they won in both batting scenarios, while DC chased successfully in both their victories. The batting units of both sides have been inconsistent this season, which could make this a low-scoring contest.
KKRβs middle order struggled against quality pace attacks at different stages this season, and that could again become a major factor in this game.
Mitchell Starc remains DCβs biggest wicket-taking threat with 9 wickets in just 5 matches, while Tyagi averages close to 2 wickets per match this season, the highest among bowlers in this contest. If DCβs pace attack strikes early, they will stay in control for most parts of the match.
