Ahmedabad: Delhi Capitals (DC) will take on resurgent Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 29th game of IPL 2021 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. This is the second fixture of a Sunday doubleheader, with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to battle in the afternoon game.
Both of these teams are coming off conclusive wins and will look to keep the winning streak going in this game. Both the teams have played 7 games till now, out of which, Punjab Kings have won 3 while Delhi Capitals have won 5 games.
Talking about Rishabh Pant led-side, DC easily managed a seven-wicket win with 21 balls to spare over the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), courtesy: Prithvi Shaw’s power-packed performance.
DC’s opening pair is rock-solid so far in the IPL 2021. Shikhar Dhawan (311 runs) and Prithvi Shaw (269 runs) have given flying starts with five half-centuries between them along with 71 fours and 15 sixes. Down the middle-order Steve Smith and Rishabh Pant can tackle the smart bowling attack of PBKS while Shimron Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis can hit big in the lower-middle order.
Axar Patel's all-round presence gives also gives constancy as he could prove to be a handful on the slower pitches. DC bowled tight lines to the KKR batters, who struggled to get going right from the start. While Kagiso Rabada's fails to impress, the rest of the DC bowlers are doing well. Avesh Khan, Ishant Sharma, Lalit Yadav are pretty decent with the bowl. DC on Sunday will definitely hope that their senior players such as Steve Smith and Kagiso Rabada can find some form against PBKS.
Punjab Kings, are coming off a comfortable 34-run win over RCB. PBKS’ skipper KL Rahul has been extraordinary and consistent with the bat till now and is currently the orange cap holder with 331 runs in 7 matches at an average of 66.20. Apart from KL Rahul, only Chris Gayle seems to be man in form rest players such as Nicolas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Deepak Hooda are big flops. It will be interesting to see whether PBKS bring in England’s Dawid Malan on Sunday.
In the bowling department, Mohammed Shami has only managed eight wickets from seven games while big buys like Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith have been very expensive. Chris Jordan has been just fair in a couple but on the positive side, PBKS will heavily rely on Harpreet Brar and Ravi Bishnoi’s spin magic.
The Narendra Modi Stadium track has shown that balls tend to grip and batting is difficult as the game progresses. DC comfortably defeated PBKS in the reverse fixture earlier this season and KL Rahul's team will look to exact revenge in this battle.
PROBABLE XI
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (C), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Chris Jordan, Jhye Richardson, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan
