The second match of the new Indian Premier League season sees the tournament head to Dubai for the first time as the Delhi Capitals host the Kings XI Punjab in a battle between two teams who hope they are more successful in the UAE when it comes to winning the competition than they have been in India.
These two teams have never won the tournament so both will be eager to pick up a win in this match which will get their campaign off to a fast start and a platform to build on for the remainder of the season.
Delhi Capitals
There is no doubt that the Delhi Capitals have made good strides over the last couple of seasons but there is still more improvement to come from them. The criticism that is often labelled at them is that Ricky Ponting doesn’t know his most balanced side and often picks players who don’t fit that balance. All eyes will inevitably therefore be on who takes to the field here because once again they have a wealth of talent to choose from.
It is the middle order batting that will be of particular interest because if they go with out and out batsmen they will lack a sixth bowling option. If they pick an all-rounder in the form of Marcus Stoinis then they will weaken their batting. One thing which is unlikely to be weak regardless of who is picked is the bowling attack. They have a number of good Indian spinners to play alongside Kagiso Rabada who looks an automatic pick.
Kings XI Punjab
When you consider the sort of personnel the Kings XI Punjab have had down the years there is no doubting the fact that there have grossly underachieved as a franchise. They are now under pressure to deliver the goods for the whole season and at least reach the postseason and potentially push for the title. That probably feels a little farfetched at this stage of proceedings but if the likes of Chris Gayle should he be selected or Glenn Maxwell have a big tournament anything is possible.
The concern I have over the Kings XI is their bowling attack. It just feels a little light although the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Deepak Hooda could make up for that down the line with some part-time stuff on used wickets. If it is all going to come together they will need good plans for KL Rahul because if it starts to go wrong a captain who also keeps wicket is a nightmare situation as his head could be all over the shop.
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Key Men
You would think the Delhi Capitals batting will take care of itself with a high quality top five so the key man here could be Kagiso Rabada, especially on what should be a good wicket with few demons with it being the first one used in the tournament.
Whichever combination Kings XI Punjab go with you get the feeling Glenn Maxwell is going to need to star for them. He arrives in excellent form with the bat and he is more than handy with the ball. Throw in his fielding too and you have the star of the side.
Betting
It is Glenn Maxwell that I am going to focus on here and in particular his performance line which just looks low at 28.5. He comes into the tournament off the back of a good few outings against England recently, winning matches for Australia with the bat and keeping them in some with the ball. That offers him up a couple of big scoring possibilities here, especially with Delhi having three left-handers in their top five, while we know he is one of the best fielders the game has ever had.
There is no doubting his potential for getting to 29pts but the concern then could be conditions but that holds no fear for us either because he averages just under 50 in ODIs in the UAE with five 50s in 11 innings and he has another 50 with the bat in T20 internationals in this part of the world. He also has a three wicket haul in a T20 on this very ground while playing for Australia too so when you put everything together, the over on his performance looks a good bet.
Tips
Back G.Maxwell’s Performance – Over 28.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
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