Having lost their respective opening matches, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab will aim to return to winning ways when they face each other in an IPL clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla here today
DD skipper Zaheer Khan
New Delhi: Having lost their respective opening matches, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab will aim to return to winning ways when they face each other in an IPL clash at the Feroz Shah Kotla here today.
DD skipper Zaheer Khan. Pic/AFP
Delhi, the perennial under-achievers of the IPL, were thrashed by nine wickets by the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. The Delhi batsmen were guilty of poor shot selection on a spinning track and were bundled out for just 98 after being asked to bat first.
Opener Quinton De Kock was the only Delhi batsman who looked somewhat comfortable on the difficult track. The South African will once again have the responsibility of giving Delhi a good start before big hitters such as Carlos Brathwaite, Sanju Samson and Chris Morris bring out the heavy artillery.
Much will also depend on Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer and Karun Nair. The Delhi bowling was rather toothless in the last match. Skipper Zaheer Khan was rather expensive, giving away 24 runs in 2.1 overs.
Punjab on the other hand, was torn apart by a whirlwind innings from Aaron Finch and went down to Gujarat Lions by five wickets. Openers Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra had given them a promising start. But the middle-order batsmen could not built on it.
A 22-ball 33 by Marcus Stoinis lower down the order helped Punjab put up 161-9. The Punjab bowlers also need to pull up their socks. Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson was a shadow of his former self while Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Pradeep Sahu and Marcus Stoinis also conceeded plenty of runs.
Captains' wishlist
Delhi Daredevils Zaheer Khan
> Quinton de Kock fires at the start
> Spinner Amit Mishra restricts flow of runs
> Chris Morris comes up with an all-round show
Kings XI Punjab David Miller
> Manan Vohra, Murali Vijay enjoy a good start
> Marcus Stoinis shines with bat and ball
> Mitchell Johnson provides early breakthroughs
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