IPL 2018 – Match 22 – Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab Preview

April 23, 2018 Dwayne Fernandes Cricket Scoops, Sports Scoops 0

7 years leading Kolkata Knight Riders and two titles meant that Delhi Daredevils had high expectations from their captain Gautam Gambhir when they purchased him at the IPL 2018 auction. However, Delhi have done what they’ve done very well in 10 years of the Indian Premier League – dwell at the bottom of the table. They have 1 win in 5 games as they take on Kings XI Punjab at home.

Teams

When Kings XI came out and lost their first game of the season, I thought it was going to be yet another sad season for co-owner Preity Zinta. However, they haven’t lost a single game since then and now that they’re up against Delhi, they are set to extend their winning streak to 5 matches. Ravi Ashwin may not be bowling too well, but his captaincy, along with Chris Gayle’s determination to do well in IPL 2018 has kept them going so far.


It shows how well a team is doing, if you can afford to have David Miller and Marcus Stoinis sitting on the bench. With an in-form Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair in the middle order, followed by Aaron Finch, the power hitting can be done once KL Rahul and Gayle are dismissed. With the ball, the overseas players in Andrew Tye and Mujeeb Zadran have been doing  brilliant job and this team is looking really good at the moment.

DD vs KXIP

For Delhi, it was supposed to be a homecoming for Gautam Gambhir, but nothing has gone his way so far; not even personal form. In the last game, he replaced Mohammed Shami with Harshal Patel and while the former wasn’t doing too well, he is much more experienced than Patel and I am not a fan of that decision.

They also have Glenn Maxwell but he is Ashwin’s bunny and I won’t be surprised if the captain takes the onus on himself when the Aussie comes out to bat. Once again, watch out for Jason Roy’s vulnerability to leg-spin. Shreyas Iyer scored a fifty in the last game after four bad outings. This is one of the few positives I drew out of Delhi’s last game.

Overall

Delhi may want to try a few different batting combinations like sending Maxwell to open the innings and even promoting someone like Chris Morris up the order. I can’t imagine what havoc could be created if the likes of Morris and Pant go ballistic together. However, Punjab is performing as a unit and I will back them to win this game.

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About Dwayne Fernandes 2315 Articles
Indian, 28 years old. Avid cricket fan. Business Management Graduate. Twitter and Instagram - @dwayneeeboy