COVID-19 has yet again struck the IPL and this time it is the Delhi franchise that invited the unwanted visitor into their dressing room. It all started when DC’s physio Patrick Farhart tested positive and the virus spread to four other playing and non-playing members of the team. Recently, DC all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been admitted to a hospital upon testing positive for COVID-19. Due to these reasons, their match with Punjab Kings (PBKS), which was supposed to be played in Pune, has been shifted to Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Here is a detailed pre-match report of the 32nd match of IPL 2022, DC vs PBKS.
DC probable XI
Since David Warner joined the Delhi camp, he has been providing the team with decent opening partnerships along with Prithvi Shaw. In the last three matches, the opening duo has added 67, 93, and 50, which is a good sign for DC. Nevertheless, DC lacks batting prowess in the middle order, apart from the occasional fireworks from skipper Rishabh Pant, Just when Delhi was looking for a saviour in the form of Mitchell Marsh, he had to be ruled out due to COVID-19. This might pave way for either Anrich Nortje or Tim Siefert, though chances are that the skipper might try Siefert to strengthen the middle order. There are chances that DC might bench Rovman Powell and try both Nortje and Siefert.
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Playing XI: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Tim Siefert, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Rovman Powell/Anrich Nortje, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Khaleel Ahmed.
Players to watch out for: Prithvi Shaw, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel.
Position: 8th (played 5, won 2, lost 3, NRR +0.219)
PBKS probable XI
Shikhar Dhawan informed the media that skipper Mayank Agarwal has been recovering well from his toe injury and should be ready for the match against DC. On the other hand, Jonny Bairstow, who replaced Bhanuka Rajapaksa, has miserably failed so far this season and is expected to deliver. Punjab has put up an excellent batting display in the powerplay overs so far, scoring at a run rate of 9.81 in the first six overs. Liam Livingstone has been very impressive, who is the highest run-getter (224) for PBKS this season. Kagiso Rabada has a great record against David Warner, getting him 5 times.
Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal (c), Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Vaibhav Arora, Arshdeep Singh.
Players to watch out for: Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Rahul Chahar.
Position: 7th (played 6, won 3, lost 3, NRR +0.109)
Head-to-Head
Out of the 28 games played between these two teams so far, PBKS has an upper hand by winning 15 games, while the Delhi franchise won 13. However, in their last 8 encounters, they have won 4 games apiece. Warner has amassed 945 runs against Punjab at an average close to 50.
Venue records
The Brabourne pitch has majorly assisted the spinners this season. Kuldeep Yadav has 7 wickets in the two games here in IPL 2022, while Rahul Chahar has 4 in two games. Eight matches have been played here this season, in which the chasing teams have won 4 times while defending teams won 4 matches. Nevertheless, the team winning the toss is expected to bat first. DC has won both their matches here and PBks won 1 out of 2. Liam Livingstone has scored 124 runs in the two matches at this venue. Brabourne is also a high scoring ground.
Expected score: 175-190
Enjoy the DC vs PBKS match and stay tuned for more IPL 2022 updates!
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