KXIP Predicted Playing 11 vs RR: The Sportsrush presents before you KXIP’s Predicted Playing XI for their fourth match of IPL 2019.
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Kings XI Punjab will play their fourth match of IPL 2019 against Delhi Capitals tonight. Coming on the back of an impressive 8-wicket victory against Mumbai Indians yesterday, Kings XI would be looking to extent their winning streak with another win against Capitals.
In what will be Punjab’s second home game, they wouldn’t want to let Delhi sneak past a victory in their second away match. With the Head-to-Head statistics of the match going in the favour of the hosts, it speaks highly about them having a clear chance of defeating Delhi in Mohali.
KXIP Predicted Playing 11 vs RR
Top-order
Universe Boss Chris Gayle featuring in the Top Five of highest run-scorers in IPL 2019 tells how important he has been for Kings XI in the three matches they have played in this season so far. Gayle has scored 139 runs at an average of 46.33 and a strike rate of 165.47.
While Gayle’s opening partner in Lokesh Rahul missed out in the first two matches, him scoring a sensible 71* (56) with the help of six fours and a six in a 177-run chase against MI would have come as a respite for Punjab.
Other than Gayle and Rahul, it was Mayank Agarwal’s 21-ball 43 which earned him the ‘Man of the Match‘ award against MI. Having earlier scored a half-century, Agarwal completes a strong Top three for Kings XI Punjab.
Middle-order
A simple reason why Punjab’s batting unit appears strong on paper is the fact that all their batsmen have looked good at some points in the three matches they have played so far. In Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller and Mandeep Singh, Punjab have three adept batsmen who can acclimatize to situations well.
While they shouldn’t be making changes to their middle-order, Punjab might be pondering over swapping Mandeep Singh with Sarfaraz Khan tonight.
Bowlers
The bowling department is one area where Punjab needs to not just improve but improve quick. In the 12 overs which their fast bowlers bowled in the last match, they conceded as many as 125 runs as compared to spinners conceding 51 runs in eight overs.
One quick solution to the same could be them playing a third spinner in place of a third fast bowler. With them having Mujeeb Ur Rahman in their dugout, one fails to understand why he was benched for Hardus Viljoen in the first place.
Given how Mohammed Shami has bowled in the tournament so far, Ankit Rajpoot presents a serious case for replacing Shami in the playing XI tonight. The senior fast bowler has leaked runs at an economy rate of 9.91 and picked three wickets in as many matches at a strike rate of 24.
KXIP Predicted Playing 11 vs RR – 1) Lokesh Rahul (wk) 2) Chris Gayle 3) Mayank Agarwal 4) Mandeep Singh 5) David Miller 6) Sarfaraz Khan 7) Ravichandran Ashwin (c) 8) Andrew Tye 9) Murugan Ashwin 10) Ankir Rajpoot 11) Mujeeb Ur Rahman
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