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IPL 2019: Delhi-Punjab face off for top spot in points table

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Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals will face off for two points on Monday in Mohali.

Both teams are coming off wins in their respective previous matches. In their first home match of the season, KXIP defeated the Mumbai Indians, while the Delhi Capitals earned two points after denying the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Super Over.

Kings XI Punjab were clinical in their run-chase against the Mumbai Indians. Faced with a testing target of 177, KXIP’s top-order fired and completed the job without breaking a sweat. KXIP will be worried over the performance of their pace bowling department which has come in for heavy punishment in all the three matches; the overall economy of KXIP’s quicks this season reads 10.13. KXIP are limited in terms of alternatives and the team management will therefore possibly back the current lot, hoping they can get better at their game as the season unfolds.

After the match against the Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals advisor Sourav Ganguly said the win would give the young team a lot of confidence. While Shreyas Iyer and company will certainly want to build on the momentum they have from that win, they will have also learnt not to take the foot off the opposition’s throat; they let KKR escape from 61 for 5 to 185-8, and were then cruising in the run-chase before they gave the Knight Riders an opening through the dismissals of Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw.

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Among all the batsmen in the KXIP line-up, Chris Gayle can cause the most damage in very little time. The Jamaican has shown the ability to adapt to the requirements of the team; while he normally takes a little time before he gets going, in the previous match against the Mumbai Indians – with KL Rahul struggling for runs at the other end – he got stuck into the bowlers from the outset.

KXIP will also be relieved with Rahul’s return to form; the Karnataka batsman, who has endured sometimes tough times recently, had to work hard for runs in the previous match, but hit his straps in the latter half of his innings.

The Delhi Capitals will want Shikhar Dhawan to hold the fort, allowing the young-and-aggressive batsmen such as Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to play their natural game. The spotlight will be on young Shaw, who scored 99 against the Knight Riders; the teenager is blessed with talent, but he often doesn’t give himself time which causes his own undoing. Shaw and Pant have set expectations; Delhi Capitals will hope they can live up to the expectations and play match-winning knocks more often than not.

TEAM

Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, R Ashwin, Hardus Viljoen, Murugan Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Mohammed Shami.

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Colin Ingram, Hanuma Vihari, Harshal Patel, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada

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