IPL 2021 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Delhi Capitals (DC): Live Updates from Sharjah

KKR vs DC Live IPL 2021: Welcome to our live coverage of Match 41 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 where Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah in the first of the doubleheader on Tuesday. 

Kolkata beat Delhi by three wickets in Sharjah Rana's 36 off 27 deliveries and Narine's late blitz have helped Kolkata defeat Delhi by three wickets in Sharjah. Gill also notched up 30 when his side was losing wickets at regular intervals. 

Towards the end, Rana held the fort while Narine smacked two sixes and a four against Rabada. Narine departed in the 17th over and Southee also made his way back in the next one. Ending the late drama, Rana smacked the winning boundary to keep his side alive in the playoffs race. 

Pant's men will have to wait a bit more to seal the playoffs berth.

Kolkata 96/4 after 14 overs. Rana (29*) and Karthik (11*) have been able to rebuild KKR innings after a mini-collapse at the halfway mark. They still need 32 off the last six overs. 

Kolkata 69/4 after 12 overs. WICKET! Ashwin gets Morgan and gives the Kolkata skipper a fiery send-off. The two were involved in a heated exchange in the first innings. Lalit pouches it in the slip as Morgan departs for a duck. 

Kolkata 67/3 in 11 overs. WICKET! Rabada comes into the attack and delivers instantly. A wicket maiden for the pacer. Five dot balls on the trot and Gill's wicket on the sixth delivery. 

Kolkata 67/2 after 10 overs. Gill has kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and occasional boundaries. Delhi have relied on their spin unit and it has worked so far! Batsmen are finding it hard when there isn't much pace on the ball. Gill (30*) and Rana (12*)  have negated the threats so far. 

Kolkata 44/2 after 6 overs. Lalit, Avesh have handed Kolkata two major blows in the Powerplay. In-form Iyer and Tripathi have departed, making things tricky for Kolkata. Lalit cleaned up Iyer with a slider from round the wicket while Avesh deceived Tripathi with an off-pace delivery. Gill is still in the middle with Rana joining him. 

Kolkata 22/0 after 3 overs. Gill, Iyer have started slowly but steadily in the run-chase. Delhi have already introduced two spinners -- Axar and Ashwin -- in the course of three overs.

Delhi 127/9 after 20 overs. A clinical bowling display, led by Sunil Narine and Lockie Ferguson, has helped Kolkata restrict Delhi to a modest 127/9. Iyer also chipped in with a couple of wickets as Delhi's top-order faltered after the Powerplay. Chakravarthy didn't manage to get a wicket but finished with 0/24 in his four overs. Skipper Pant top-scored for Delhi with 39, squeezing in some vital runs at the death. 

Delhi 102/6 after 17 overs. Iyer dismisses Axar for a duck. Delhi in trouble now! They have gone from 77/2 to 102/6. Good thing is that Pant is still out there with Ashwin. 

Delhi 89/5 after 15 overs. Narine strikes again! He plucks Lalit Yadav in the last over of his spell. Narine is on a roll today, spinning his web around the Delhi top-order. He finishes with figures of 2/18. Axar joins Pant in the middle. 

Delhi 81/3 after 13 overs. WICKET! Ferguson strikes again as Smith departs for 39. He tries to swing it across the line but ball takes the inside edge and crashes into the leg stump. Hetmyer joins Pant.

Delhi 64/2 after 10 overs. Two boundaries from Chakravarthy's over as Delhi continue to move ahead in a sluggish manner. The projected score is 128. Looks like Pant is ready to shift gears.

Delhi 42/2 after 7 overs. WICKET! Narine produces a beauty to send Iyer back. Iyer had no idea as it went through his bat and pad to disturb the furniture behind. 

Delhi 39/1 after 6 overs. Dhawan has departed early but Smith is still in the middle. 

Delhi 35/1 after 5 overs. WICKET! Dhawan's stay comes to an end! Ferguson strikes in the Powerplay to dismiss the Orange Cap holder. Dhawan attempts to strike it towards point but miscues. Venkatesh Iyer makes no mistake. Another Iyer, Shreyas, comes in to bat. 

Delhi 29/0 after 4 overs. Dhawan not given LBW and Kolkata decide to challenge umpire's decision. Ball tracking shows the ball clipping the top and it's umpire's call! KKR retain the review but Dhawan stays at the crease. 

Delhi 12/0 after 2 overs. Smith and Dhawan have steered Delhi to a steady start. Dhawan has also picked the Orange Cap again with a boundary off Warrier in the first over. Samson (433 runs) and Rahul (401) are second and third respectively. 

Team News: Steve Smith opens for DC; Tim Southee makes KKR debut

KKR have made a couple of changes with injured all-rounder Andre Russell and out-of-form pacer Prasidh Krishna making way for Kiwi quick Tim Southee and fast bowler Sandeep Warrier.

Eoin Morgan: We're bowling first. I don't know what the wicket will be like, but it's not a belter, and not too bad, so somewhere in between. Setting a score might be a challenge, so we'll try bowling. As a team we are focussed on taking it game by game.

Rishabh Pant: We were looking to bat first anyway. We don't really know what the conditions are like. 150-160 should be good, since the wicket looks slow. We are looking to take one match at a time, and hope we can win this game and qualify for the playoffs for sure.

Playing XI of DC and KKR

Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan(c), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sandeep Warrier.

For the Capitals, the injured Prithvi Shaw made way for Australian Steve Smith in the playing XI.

DC 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. [KKR vs DC Dream11 Prediction, IPL 2021]

KKR vs DC, Match Preview: Delhi Capitals will fancy their chances of reaching the play-off stages when they face Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League here on Tuesday.

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. [READ FULL PREVIEW]