Delhi Capitals will be fighting a battle of honor against Punjab Kings at their home ground Ferozeshah Kotla on Saturday. Delhi's farewell to IPL is almost over. If he wins the remaining three matches, he will have 14 points. Despite this, to reach the playoffs, he will have to depend on the performance of other teams. At the same time, Punjab will have to win at any cost to stay in the playoff race. A defeat here can spoil the work of Shikhar Dhawan's team.
Shikhar likes to play in Delhi
Like Virat of RCB, Ferozeshah Kotla is Shikhar Dhawan's home ground. He has played cricket here since childhood and is well aware of the conditions here. He likes to play here. Shikhar will have huge support behind him at the Arun Jaitley Stadium when he steps out to play here on Saturday. This is the reason that Punjab will not miss the absence of being here on their home ground. Shikhar is also running in peak form. He has scored 3 fifties in this IPL so far. He has scored all three half-centuries outside his team's home ground Mohali. In the last match, he scored 57 runs at Eden Gardens. Despite this, his team lost. Against Delhi, Shikhar will only hope that he gets the support of some other batsman.
Punjab has lost the last two matches
Apart from Shikhar, Liam Livingstone, and Jitesh Sharma have been scoring runs, but none of the other batsmen have made a mark. Opener Prabhsimran Singh put color in the opening match, but after that, he also did not work. Bhanuka Rajapaksa has also not been able to show any wonder. In the bowling department, Arshdeep, Sam Curran, and Nathan Ellis have taken wickets in the beginning, but they have proved costly later. This was also the reason for their defeat in the last two matches against Mumbai and KKR. In the last match, Punjab was in a winning position against KKR, but Rinku Singh's fours spoiled their work. Had Punjab won there, they would have been in the top three, but are currently in eighth place.
Delhi batsmen have been a flop
Delhi is yet to play as a team in this tournament. Its cricketers have performed in pieces. Batting has flopped badly. Indian batsmen in particular are unable to do anything. Aman Hakim Khan played an inning of 51 runs against Gujarat. Except for Akshar Patel, no other Indian batsman has been able to walk. Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan have been put in the dugout after the initial failure. Experienced Manish Pandey is unable to do anything special.
Improved bowling due to Ishant and Khaleel
Captain David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Phil Salt have scored runs in pieces for Delhi so far. Warner has not run for the last five innings. In these three innings, he did not even reach double digits. Marsh scored 63 against Hyderabad while Salt smashed 81 against RCB. Delhi's bowling has improved as compared to batting. Akshar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have bowled from a good line. Ishant Sharma and Khaleel Ahmed have also taken wickets, but Delhi will miss Enrich Nortje. Notreje has returned to South Africa citing personal work.
Possible playing 11 of both the teams
Delhi Capitals: David Warner (Captain), Philip Salt (Wicketkeeper), Mitchell Marsh, Manish Pandey, Riley Russo/Rovman Powell, Akshar Patel, Aman Khan, Lalit Yadav, Ripple Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma (Wicketkeeper), Liam Livingstone, Sikandar Raza, Sam Karan, Shah Rukh Khan, Rishi Dhawan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis.
(pc crickinfo)
