Capitals meet Kings in a high-octane battle of the North

Both Delhi and Punjab will be hoping for a new dawn as they cross swords with each other in a high-flying contest, desperate to put the bygones back as a scrambling search for the much-needed momentum resumes.

The Delhi Capitals will be coming to this fixture on the back of shellacking at the hands of the Royal Challengers despite a desperate lunge in the end that still saw them falling short. The Punjab Kings were stationed in a decent position until they collapsed under the pump as Umran Malik dished out the over of his life.

Both sides have struggled so far and somehow their dalliance with inconsistency has been a glaring concern in the ongoing campaign. The Capitals have failed to conjure something significant with the blade as their middle-order has seemed downright shaky with the openers having a lion’s share of responsibility on their shoulders.

The Kings have approached the tournament with a unique stance as they have packed their side with a flurry of hard-hitters who have so far contributed in decent proportions that has seen Punjab post significant scores on the card for their opposition but their bowling has somehow lacked the depth and now with Mayank injured, it is a still a question that will he return to the side fully fit when the Kings come knocking.

This will be an interesting contest as Delhi has shown a fair bit of accuracy when it has come to their bowling department while for Punjab it has been some terrific striking that has seen them coming out on top on a handful of occasions with Liam Livingstone leading the charge.

Venue Watch:

This is a surface where runs are extremely easy to come by and usually, the teams batting second have that added sway unless there is a momentous total on the cards or there is some magical display by an individual like that of Chahal in the last match played at the venue. KKR and RR played out a thrilling vie producing an aggregate of 427 runs which could have gone for more with a different upshot altogether had it not been for Chahal’s wizardry. There will be some early assistance for the pacers but as the game matures, the momentum may change hands to the spinners. This, however, is going to be very minimal assistance with the batters still ruling the roost. The team batting second will have an added advantage given the presence of the dew while the team batting first will have to pile up something momentous on the cards to defend successfully.

Squads:

Delhi Capitals:

Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin Hebbar, Abhishek Sharma, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, KS Bharat, Mandeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Sarfaraz Khan

Punjab Kings:

Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Odean Smith, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Sandeep Sharma, Atharva Taide, Vaibhav Arora, Ansh Patel, Raj Angad Bawa, Benny Howell, Rishi Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (wk), Baltej Singh, Writtick Chatterjee, Nathan Ellis, Prerak Mankad.

Match Details:

Delhi Capitals vs Punjab Kings

Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Date: 20th April 2022

Time: 7:30 PM IST