DC in middle-over muddle while champs KKR fight for survival

Delhi Capitals would aim for an improved batting effort in the middle overs when they face a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL match here on TuesdayDC have suffered two defeats in their last four matches including a loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday and will look to avoid any hiccups at the business end of the tournamentAbhishek Porel has batted with plenty of aggressive intent at the top of the order but veteran Faf fu Plessis will quickly need to get used to the slow nature of the surface at Kotla after struggling in his comeback gameAlso ReadIPL 2025 Vaibhav Suryavanshis 101run knock helps RR secure eightwicket win over GTKL set for spin testKL Rahul has been DCrsquos leading rungetter this season but could not accelerate against the spinners on Sunday night He would back himself to take on the likes of Sunil Narine and Varun ChakaravarthyWith quality spinners in their ranks KKR could pose a stiff challenge for the home The Ajinkya Rahane ledside is slightly low on confidence after a tough outing against Punjab Kings in a rainhit matchA solid innings is expected from Karun Nair to ensure Rahul isnrsquot left to shoulder the burden alone in the middleorderIn the bowling department DC skipper Axar Patel led from the front with two wickets but found little support from othersStar pacer Mitchell Starc who went wicketless against RCB will look to exploit the weaknesses in his former team while Kuldeep Yadav with his deceptive googlies remains a threat in the middle oversDCrsquos fielding has also left much to be desired against RCB with Porel dropping a crucial catch of Krunal Pandya on Sunday nightKKR meanwhile have managed just seven points so far and are placed seventh in the standings having failed to collect any points from their last three matches including two losses and a noresultRahane eyes revivalRahane will be desperate to arrest the slide and keep their playoff hopes alive with another defeat making the task tougherIssues have cropped up across departments for KKRTheir batting lacks a settled look with Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz being rotated in the opening slot alongside Narine while the side has relied heavily on Rahane and youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi to score runsThe middleorder trio of Venkatesh Iyer Andre Russell Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh has struggled to make a significant impactThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params