The second match in the Indian Premier League on Saturday is an interesting one as it involves the last two winners of the wooden spoon when the Kings XI Punjab host the Delhi Daredevils in Mohali.
Kings XI look on track to retain the wooden spoon which is not something they would want while Delhi are flying high this season and will be looking to push on for a playoff place after the start they have had to their campaign.
Kings XI Punjab
The Kings XI have been showing signs of improvement in recent times which will encourage them and if they can just find some consistency with the bat then they might yet be capable of making a late season surge.
Hashim Amla’s arrival should assist with that and with Glenn Maxwell looking back in form there is plenty of reason to be optimistic for the Punjab team. They have bowled pretty well throughout the campaign which is one positive for them.
Delhi Daredevils
The Daredevils were going along really nicely in this tournament and then out of nowhere they made four changes to their side for their match against Pune last time out which completely altered the balance of the team and they were beaten accordingly.
If anything that match created more questions than answers and that is never a good thing at this stage of the season but on their best form when they were settled they were looking very good so they need to get back to playing like that.
Team news
Hashim Amla looks set for his IPL debut in this match and he’ll fit in at the top of the order. Glenn Maxwell and David Miller look set for two more overseas spots but who full the other one remains to be seen.
Delhi Daredevils’ changes last time out didn’t work but the form of Sam Billings has created a problem especially if Quinton de Kock is ready to return. That means they need to pick four from de Kock, Billings, JP Duminy, Chris Morris, Carlos Brathwaite and Imran Tahir. Who they pick will be important.
Form
Kings XI Punjab: LLWLLLWL
Delhi Daredevils: LWWWLWWL
Head to head: Kings XI Punjab 9-8 Delhi Daredevils
In Mohali: Kings XI Punjab 2-1 Delhi Daredevils
PCA Stadium
This will be the fifth match on this ground but the first for almost two weeks so the wicket should have had time to recover from the exerts of the early stages of this tournament and the T20 World Cup that preceded it.
Three of the previous four matches here have been won by the chasing side but Mumbai were able to defend a score here in the last match although the Kings XI batting wasn’t going all that well at that stage so we shouldn’t make the mistake of things the dimensions are changing.
Betting
This is an intriguing match. Going into their previous match I was beginning to like what I saw from Delhi but that team selection and performance came out of nowhere and muddies the waters somewhat.
I’m going to side with Kings XI Punjab in this match. That isn’t to do with Delhi but even when they pick the right team they are heavily reliant on a couple of men with the bat which is never good.
We don’t know for sure if Zaheer Khan will play here but if he does he might be rusty again and may need a game to get back into the swing of things like he did at the start of the tournament and Kings XI can profit from that.
The struggles for Punjab all season long has been with the batting but with Hashim Amla adding a solidity to their line up and the likes of Maxwell back in decent nick there should be a platform for the rest of them to perform.
If the Kings XI do bat well then we know their bowling is very hard to get away with Sandeep Sharma having impressed all season so I think at odds against it is worth chancing the home side in the hope Amla inspires a good batting effort.
Tips
WON – Back Kings XI Punjab to beat Delhi Daredevils for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with Boylesports
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