Delhi Capitals fast bowling coach James Hopes has said Kolkata Knight Riders, the present top-placed side in IPL 2022, are a decent squad that has plenty of match-winners. However, Hopes believes they will work on winning key moments when they take on KKR on Sunday (April 10) at Brabourne Stadium.
Under the leadership of swashbuckling wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant, Delhi Capitals (DC) did not have memorable outings to begin the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The IPL 2020 runner-ups are currently placed at seventh on the points table, with just one win from three matches. Their next assignment will be more challenging as they are set to go up against top-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday (April 10) in Match 19 of the ongoing edition at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.
Ahead of the contest, James Hopes, the DC fast bowling coach, lauded their next opponents, saying the KKR had a decent second half last season that helped them reach the final and since then, they have been looking like a decent side. Hopes also mentioned that the Purple and Gold brigade are surrounded by match-winners, who can take the game away in no time.
“Kolkata Knight Riders are a good team and they showed that especially in the back half of the last IPL when they went on to make the final. They have two world-class spinners surrounded by a very solid pace attack and some batters who are match-winners. We’ll devise our best plan and we’ll look to win the key moments,” said Hopes in a release shared by the DC.
However, Hopes believes they will win key moments against KKR at Brabourne Stadium, where they won their tournament opener against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI). “We’ll devise our best plan and we’ll look to win the key moments. We have not played our best cricket yet, but we have got close to being at our best in our last two matches. We always talk about continuous improvement and we expect to see some more improvement in our next match,” he added.
Since winning their IPL 2022 opener against MI by four wickets, the DC suffered back-to-back defeats against the two debutants Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants respectively. They will be looking to get back their winning momentum against the KKR, which is not going to be an easy task, surely.
