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Match Preview and Predictions as the Delhi Daredevils face the Gujarat Lions

Akshay Malik
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Predictions for Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils

Invest in future because that is where you are going to spend the rest of your life. The confidence that Rahul Dravid and Delhi Daredevils have showed in their young quartet of Samson, Nair, Pant and Iyer is appreciating. In the last match against the heavyweights Sunrisers, they all stepped upto the task to chase a big total. Here are the Match Preview and Predictions as the Delhi Daredevils face the Gujarat Lions.

Daredevils need to shun the attitude of “Ye dilli h mere yaar, bas ishq, mohabbat, pyar” and adopt “Aa dekhen zara kisme kitna h dum” as their motto. With four out of their five remaining matches at home, Delhi must start piling up wins to have a go at playoffs. They have already lost Sam Billings, who left for national duty and Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada are expected to be available only till May 7. Delhi are currently placed at sixth position in the standings with 3 wins in 9 matches.

Gujarat Lions are coming off two heart wrenching losses; hard done by Bumrah brilliance in Super Over and Ben Stokes fury with the bat in a last over finish. They are seventh in the points table and with just 6 points from 10 matches, a win is required in all the remaining games to give themselves an outside chance of qualifying for playoffs.

Their remaining matches are against Daredevils, home and away; Kings XI, away and against Sunrisers at home in Kanpur. Lions would be ruing the injury to Andrew Tye as that has made them again rely on batting to get over the line.

 

PITCH

The pitch at Feroz Shah Kotla is expected to assist spinners with a fair bit of turn seen in the previous match. Dew would make batting easier in the second half. The weather is going to be warm and dry.

 

Predictions for Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils
Predictions for Delhi Daredevils vs Gujarat Lions

DELHI DAREDEVILS – STRENGTHS

The way young turks approached the chase against a strong bowling line up of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi’s batting seems to be getting their act together.Corey Anderson finished off well and looked in sublime touch. Jayant Yadav and Amit Mishra are expected to be the game turners in this spin friendly wicket.

Mohammad Shami showed some glimpses of coming back to form. The intent shown by the Delhi camp in the last match was positively aggressive and they are quite serious in their pursuit of qualifying for playoffs.

DELHI DAREDEVILS – WEAKNESSES

As Delhi require to win nearly all their games, it is a big question whether the young and inexperienced folks would be able to handle the pressure. Their strength so far, the pace bowling looked out of sorts in the previous match.

Kagiso Rabada was hammered for 59 runs and Chris Morris wasn’t able to pick up wickets. They’ll have their task cut out against the dangerous batting line up of Gujarat. The batters need to take more responsibility and must stay at the wicket for long.

GUJARAT LIONS – STRENGTHS

Gujarat Lions have got off to good starts as Ishan Kishan and Brendon McCullum are amongst runs. Ankit Soni has done a great job in containing the batsmen with a disciplined line and length. Pradeep Sangwan

picked up crucial wickets with the new ball. Basil Thampi has really been a go to bowler for Suresh Raina. He has bowled well especially at death and has taken wickets at regular intervals. Fielding of Lions has beem commendable as they have effected most run outs this season.

GUJARAT LIONS – WEAKNESSES

The strength of Lions, their batting hasn’t been upto the mark. Aaron Finch hasn’t contributed much with the bat. Suresh Raina has thrown off the starts and Jadeja and Faulkner have been ordinary with both bat and ball.

Dwayne Smith has failed miserably in all departments of the game. With Jason Roy having left on international duty, Gujarat Lions are bereft of overseas players. Two consecutive losses would have done a lot of damage to their confidence.

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PREDICTED XI

DD – Zaheer Khan is expected to be assessed before the match for his hamstring injury. Shahbaz Nadeem may get a game here but it would be a dilemma for Delhi to make Jayant Yadav or Amit Mishra sit out. Delhi may even consider playing with spin trio- Mishra, Yadav and Nadeem. Pat Cummins may also make a comeback in place of Rabada.

Sanju Samson, Karun Nair (capt), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Corey Anderson, Chris Morris, Angelo Mathews, Shahbaz Nadeem, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami

GL – Despite the losses, Gujarat isn’t expected to make changes to their playing XI.

Ishan Kishan, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (capt), Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Pradeep Sangwan, Basil Thampi, Ankit Soni

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall: Played – 2, GL – 1, DD – 1

Both teams would be squaring up against each other for the first time this season.

MATCH PREDICTION

With both teams still languishing in the lower half of the table and all the games literally being a knockout for them, expect them to go all guns blazing. Here’s what we predict

If GL bats first

1st Innings Score: 170 – 180

DD wins by 4 wickets

If DD bats first

1st Innings Score: 170 – 180

GL wins by 5 wickets

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