IPL 2021: Punjab Kings seeks revenge against Delhi Capitals

The second game of the third Super Sunday of IPL 2021 sees Delhi Capitals take on a buoyant Delhi Capitals side. Both the teams arrive in this game on the back of impressive victories. Delhi thumped Kolkata by seven wickets, on the back of a scintillating show from Shaw who hit 6 boundaries in the first over of the chase to set the tone. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings hammered Royal Challengers Bangalore by 34 runs. They defended the target with ease dismantling the in-form batting lineup of RCB. 

Earlier in the season, when Punjab and Delhi met at Wankhede Stadium, Pant’s men comfortably chased down a target of 95 runs. The batting performance from Punjab was poor as they failed to capitalise on a good start, while Shikhar Dhawan toyed with Kings bowling to beautifully set up the chase for Delhi Capitals.

Delhi is currently third in the points table with five wins. Another victory will further cement their position in the top four. Meanwhile, the victory is much more important for Punjab Kings as they are sixth with eight points on the board. It is going to be a fascinating battle between two young Indian captains.

Team News

Punjab Kings could bring back Mayank Agarwal to the team after he missed the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore due to injury. Jhye Richardson could replace injured Riley Meredith in the starting XI. On the other hand, Delhi Capitals don’t have any new concerns about injury and suspensions and they will have a full squad to choose from but are unlikely to make any changes to the winning combination.

Predicted Starting XI

Punjab Kings: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Chris Jordan, Jhye Richardson, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikar Dhawan, Steve Smith, Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan

Head to Head 

Out of the 27 times, these teams have met Punjab has won 15 times while Delhi has won 12 times. Punjab has dominated this tie winning three out of the previous five meetings.

Key Battle to watch out for

Prithvi Shaw vs Mohammed Shami

Prithvi Shaw has been in fine form in IPL 2021. The young batsman smashed 81 runs at a strike rate of 200 during the win against KKR this week. Shaw will be going after the bowling in the powerplay, so it will be interesting to see what tactics Mohammed Shami adapts to stop him from scoring freely.