3 player battles to watch out for in DC vs KKR, Match 48 of IPL 2025 ft. Axar Patel

Delhi Capitals (DC) are set to host Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 48th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The contest will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, April 29.

The Capitals are placed fourth in the points table, with six wins from nine games. After registering a streak of wins, Delhi endured multiple losses and have won only two games in their last five outings. Their most recent match resulted in a defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

KKR, meanwhile, have had multiple disappointing outings of late. After losing two games in a row, their game against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) was washed out due to rain in Kolkata. With just seven points from nine games, the Ajinkya Rahane-led side will be hoping to bounce back.

Here’s a look at the three player battles to watch out for in this contest:

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#3 Faf du Plessis vs Harshit Rana

Faf du Plessis returned to DC’s playing XI after missing out on a few games owing to a minor injury. With Jake Fraser McGurk out of the lineup given his poor form, the DC vice-captain found his way back in the top order.

Harshit Rana has gone wicketless in only three of the nine games played so far. He has 11 wickets from these games and will be keen on doing better in the powerplay to keep his team in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Rana has dismissed Du Plessis once in two T20 outings previously. In five deliveries, the Protea batter has scored eight runs off the KKR seamer, including a maximum.

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#2 KL Rahul vs Varun Chakaravarthy

KL Rahul looked slightly out of touch in the team’s previous outing against RCB, but will be raring to go in the next game as DC look to keep adding points to their tally. He’s performed really well this season and will be the key batter for DC.

Like Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy too has gone wicketless in just three of the nine outings, and has 11 wickets from these outings. In T20s, he has dismissed KL Rahul once in 46 deliveries of five innings and the keeper-batter has scored 45 runs off them.

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#1 Sunil Narine vs Axar Patel

With Sunil Narine opening the innings for KKR and Axar Patel taking bowling duties in the powerplay this season, this will be a battle worth watching. Both players have had a good history of facing each other in T20s.

Narine, as a batter, has faced 16 deliveries against Patel and scored 32 runs off them at a strike rate of 200. The KKR all-rounder has hit the DC skipper for two fours and three sixes and has fallen prey to him once in these outings.

On the other hand, the DC all-rounder has scored 29 runs in 35 deliveries against the Caribbean in 12 innings, and has given away his wicket three times in these outings. With both players getting to bowl their full quota of overs and also getting good chances to bat, this will be one of the most interesting battles.