Two of the persistent members of the under-achieving club in the IPL, the Delhi Daredevils, and the Kings XI Punjab, face each other in the second match of today’s doubleheader at the Feroz Shah Kotla. DD lasted a disappointing start to the campaign despite Rishabh Pant’s heroics but they came back strongly in the second match to sweep past the Rising Pune Supergiant with the help of Sanju Samson’s brilliant century and registered their first win of the season. Now, as they head into their first home game of the season, they will be looking to turn the heat on their opposition.

KXIP, on the other hand, will be looking to brush aside the defeat to KKR in their last match which brought an end to their two-game winning streak. They are currently placed in the top four of the table and will be looking to keep their position. A win might even push them to the top and they will be looking to grasp the opportunity.

DD vs. KXIP Head to Head –

Played – 18

Delhi Daredevils won 8

Kings XI Punjab won 10

DD journey so far-

Played – 2

Won- 1

Lost -1

The Delhi Daredevils have one win from two outings, while their opponents Kings XI Punjab have two wins from three matches. Zaheer Khan’s young team will take plenty of confidence from the win in their last outing and look to notch a second win when they play their first home fixture of the season. DD could make a change or two to the XI that did duty in the last match; apart from ShreyasIyer who has recovered from the illness that made him unavailable for the first two weeks, Jayant Yadav and Mohammed Shami to stand a chance of getting their first match of the season.

Batting- At the start of the season, an inexperienced batting line-up was pointed to be DD’s weakness; yet, true to the motto of the IPL – “where talent meets opportunity” – it has been heartening to see a talented youngster like Sanju Samson rise to the occasion and deliver on the grand stage.

Bowling- Coming to the bowling department, Captain Zaheer Khan and Spinner Amit Mishra are consistently taking wickets and in this match, their bowling squad might get even stronger with Shami’s inclusion in playing XI. Though it’s still early days, Daredevils’ batting and bowling clicked wonderfully. All-rounder Chris Morris can also take wickets when needed.

Probable XI: Aditya Tare, Sam Billings, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant (wk), Corey Anderson, Chris Morris, Pat Cummins, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan (C), Mohammad Shami.

KXIP journey so far-

Played – 3

Won- 2

Lost -1

Kings XI Punjab must be disappointed with their performance against Kolkata Knight Riders. At one stage in the innings, they looked good to post a total around 200 but eventually ended up with 170. In the run-chase, they were caught unawares and were blown away by the opening batsman Sunil Narine. Prior to the defeat against KKR, KXIP had two convincing wins; they chased down 164 and 149 against RPS and RCB respectively, losing a total of six wickets in both those run-chases. KXIP will need to bring in more match awareness and react quicker on the field quicker than they did against KKR the other night if and when they are challenged.

Batting- For KXIP, Hashim Amla and Manan Vohra form a formidable opening duo. Vohra, in particular, has looked very dangerous but he has not been able to convert his starts. Amla has been consistently getting the runs on the board and the KXIP batsmen need to build their innings around him. Captain Glenn Maxwell needs to fire in the middle order so that KXIP can score big.

Bowling- It hasn’t entirely been disappointing on the bowling front in spite of relying heavily on local talent. Maxwell will hope that Axar Patel, who will be leading the spin attack, produces an effective performance at Kotla. Traditionally the wicket helps the spinners and KXIP might beef up the spin attack for this match.

Probable XI: Hashim Amla, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Glenn Maxwell (C), David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Anureet Singh, Varun Aaron, Sandeep Sharma, Ishant Sharma.

AllIndiaRoundup Predicts:

Well, every cricket loving Indian is a cricket expert and every expert has his own predictions for IPL. Right from cricket pundits sitting in com boxes to the waiters in coffee shops, everyone is an expert in India. We @AIR thought why not try out our luck by predicting these matches. Of course, we would appreciate your support in making these calls. You can vote and tell us who is that you think will win today’s match.

DD vs KXIP Match Predictions-

There will be much more eyes following Sanju Samson – after his hundred on Tuesday. There will be a degree of curiosity to see if that knock was a flash-in-the-pan performance, or if the youngster can start stitching together consistent performances. Rishabh Pant is another youngster one should keep a close watch on; being a local lad, the teenager will be keen to make a significant contribution to his team and entertain his home crowd.

Glenn Maxwell and David Miller (KXIP) have proven credentials – having caused plenty of damage at the highest level; they are the most important names in the KXIP batting line-up.

OUR WINNER – Delhi Daredevils

DD vs KXIP Score Predictions-

First batting:

DD –160-180

KXIP – 150-170

WHY?

• Inform batting lineup
• Home ground advantage
• Fast bowling unit with Zaheer, Shami, Mishra
• All-rounder Chris Morris destructive batting

Our Star performers Today-

Samson, Morris, Zaheer

Amla, Maxwell, Vohra, Sandeep