Placed fifth in the IPL points table with 13 points from 11 matches, the Capitals are in dire need of consistency from all departments. On the other hand, Punjab Kings are high on confidence after winning seven of their 11 matches, and are comfortably sitting at the third spot with 15 points.
Photo: IANS
Desperate to get their campaign back on track, Delhi Capitals will hope to arrest their recent string of dismal performances, that includes three losses and a no result due to rain in their last five matches when they take on a confident Punjab Kings in a league match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday.
Placed fifth in the IPL points table with 13 points from 11 matches, the Capitals are in dire need of consistency from all departments. On the other hand, Punjab Kings are high on confidence after winning seven of their 11 matches, and are comfortably sitting at the third spot with 15 points.
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Heading into the contest, the Axar Patel-led side will expect their misfiring top and middle order to get their act together if they are to secure themselves a place in the play-offs. Having started the tournament with four consecutive wins, Delhi Capitals had themselves to blame for the situation they are presently in, as they failed to cash in on the home advantage at the Arun Jaitley Stadium where they could manage just a solitary win, that too via a Super Over.
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In their previous match, Delhi’s batting vulnerabilities were exposed by a disciplined Sunrisers Hyderabad attack that reduced them to 29 for 5 before eventually restricting them to 133. DC’s top order lacked confidence.
Karun Nair’s promotion as an opener in the last game backfired as he was dismissed for a duck, while South African Faf du Plessis also perished early trying to force a boundary on a bowler-friendly pitch. Abishek Porel has failed to capitalise on his starts, leaving DC at the mercy of the middle and lower order.
The burden fell on KL Rahul, their leading run-getter this season with 381 runs, but the right-hander can’t always be expected to bail out the side, and even Axar himself was dismissed early.
While DC still have depth in their batting line-up, and it was the effort of Tristan Stubbs, bowling all-rounder Vipraj Nigam, and Ashutosh that helped them post a fighting total, they will expect the top order to set the tone.
Meanwhile, their opponents are flying high on confidence after an impressive season so far. In contrast to Delhi’s top order woes, Punjab’s top order has been rock solid, with Prabhsimran Singh providing flying starts and accumulating 437 runs as an opener.
His opening partner Priyansh Arya, with 347 runs, has made the most of his chances, while skipper Shreyas Iyer has been in red-hot form with the bat and astute as captain. He has scored 405 runs, including four fifties.
The middle order looks like a compact unit with Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh stepping up when required.
It will be interesting to see how DC’s bowling attack, comprising Mitchell Starc and the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Vipraj Nigam, cope with PBKS’s firepower. The team will expect more from pace duo Dushmantha Chameera and Mukesh Kumar.
PBKS’ bowling looks a formidable unit with Arshdeep Singh leading from the front in the powerplay, taking 16 wickets, including three in the last game against LSG. For Punjab, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s return to form is also a good sign heading into the business end of the tournament. Chahal has so far taken 14 wickets, including a hat-trick against CSK. The rest of the attack —Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Marcus Stoinis — has complemented the duo well.
Squads:
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (c), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Rizvi, Darshan Nalkande, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Dushmantha Chameera, Faf du Plessis, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari.
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Kuldeep Sen, Pyla Avinash, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Harnoor Pannu, Aaron Hardie, Priyansh Arya, Azmatullah Omarzai.
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